England women in danger of being dumped out of under-19 Euros in the group stage | OneFootball

In a surprise turn of events, England under-19’s are at threat of being dumped out of the Euros this week following a collapse in their second game.

England shocked by Portugal

Spirits were high in the England camp following a comeback win against the Netherlands in matchday one, with the young Lionesses sitting in a good position heading into game 2 against Portugal.

However against Portugal everything went wrong for England who were unceremoniously smashed 4-1.

The Lionesses were 1-0 up at half time which had them top of their Euro 2025 group and they looked in control going into the second half, but in the 75th minute their tournament completely collapsed from under their feet.

Two quick goals from Portugal turned the game around before the 80th minute and as England pushed to get back into the game their opposition pounced again.

A penalty from Marta Afilhado Gago looked to put Portugal out of reach and Carolina Silva Santiago’s second goal of the game in the 90th minute truly put the game to bed, as England’s capitulation was complete.

Speaking after the game, England under-19’s manager, Lauren Smith, said: “We’ll have to learn from it and I hope we do very quickly. We have to put this to bed and move on and get after that win.

“We have to look forward to the next game and that’s all about making sure it’s in our hands and we win the next game.

“It didn’t look like an England team,” continued Smith. “The second half, we’ve given them too much respect, we’ve given the ball away too many times and caused our own problems.”

What do England need to qualify for knockouts?

To make things even worse after their loss, the Netherlands edged past Spain which means that England’s wide margin loss has them bottom of the group with just one game left to play.

The Lionesses can still qualify for the knockout stages however they have a massive hill to climb in arguably the hardest game of the group against Spain on Saturday night.

For England to qualify they will have to beat Spain, with a draw not enough for the team to qualify for the knockouts.

Spain on the other hand have a good enough goal difference that means they will advance to the semi-finals with anything but a loss to England.