Georgia Stanway screamer sets Lionesses en route to vital victory over France in Euro 2025 qualifying

England picked up a crucial 2-1 win against France, as they boosted their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2025.

Sarina Wiegman's side are defending champions, having famously beaten Germany at Wembley to lift the trophy two years ago.

But their hopes of reaching Switzerland were on a knife edge after an underwhelming start to the campaign, which included a 2-1 defeat to the French last Friday.

However, they put in a much-improved performance against the same Group A3 opponents in Saint-Etienne, dominating the first half as they ran out worthy winners.

The Lionesses spurned a number of early chances, with Alessia Russo and Beth Mead having the best of them.

It took a screamer to eventually break the deadlock on 21 minutes, when Georgia Stanway rifled a right-footed thunderbolt into the bottom corner from outside the area.

Russo could have made it 2-0 shortly afterwards, although her header from Lucy Bronze's cross was saved, but the striker eventually got her goal when she nodded home Lauren Hemp's superb cross.

At the other end, Wendie Renard's looped ball back across goal was poked agonisingly against the post from close range by Marie-Antoinette Katoto as France failed to cut the deficit before the break.

The hosts were better in the second half, but their lack of a final ball proved crucial as they struggled to break down England's defence.

They were gifted a route back into the match when Leah Williamson tripped Grace Geyoro in the box though, allowing Kadidiatou Diani the chance to emphatically convert from the penalty spot.

That led to a nervy final 20 minutes, during which time Delphine Cascarino flashed one effort over the bar, while goalkeeper Hannah Hampton made a stunning save from point-blank range from Katoto as the visitors clung on for victory.

The result ends France's 100% record in Euro 2025 qualifying, and is their first home competitive defeat since 2019, but they remain top of the group with nine points, two ahead of England.

The Lionesses, on the other hand, are in third ahead of their final two matches, against Ireland and Sweden, next month.

Elsewhere in Group 3, the Republic of Ireland were unable to pull off an upset in Sweden.

Eileen Gleeson's side looked set to pick up a point, as the match was locked at 0-0 heading into the final exchanges.

However, captain Magdalena Eriksson bagged an 84th-minute winner for the hosts as they earned a 1-0 success.

It means the Irish remain bottom of Group A3, having lost each of their four matches so far, and they now face an uphill battle to avoid relegation to the second tier.

Sweden, on the other hand, are in second place, above England on goal difference.

The top two teams in the group will automatically qualify for Euro 2025.

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