England made unwanted history on Saturday, becoming the first reigning champions to lose their opening match at the Women’s European Championship. The Lionesses fell 2-1 to a spirited France side in a thrilling encounter.
France’s Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore struck two quick goals late in the first half, propelling France to their ninth consecutive win and leaving England reeling. Keira Walsh managed to pull one back for England three minutes from time, but it wasn’t enough to salvage a point.
“The positive is that I’ve not seen us like that for a while,” said England captain Leah Williamson after the match. “We hold ourselves to higher standards in individual battles, and we improved on that throughout the game, which is good.”
The defeat also brought an end to England manager Sarina Wiegman’s remarkable perfect record in the competition. Wiegman had previously won 12 out of 12 games over two tournaments, guiding the Netherlands to the title before taking charge of England.
“We’re frustrated because we had such three very good weeks and we trained really well, but that’s never a guarantee that you win the game,” Wiegman reflected. “You have to do things really well, and we just didn’t get it right at those moments.”
Looking ahead, England will face the Netherlands on Wednesday before taking on Wales in their final group game. The Netherlands, who defeated Wales 3-0 earlier in Group D, will be full of confidence.
France’s victory was a statement of intent, showcasing their ability to compete with top teams despite the absence of injured captain Griedge Mbock. Coach Laurent Bonadéi, however, remained cautious about their prospects.
“I won’t change my position on our status. At the moment, we haven’t won anything; we are still challengers with a lot of ambition,” Bonadéi stated. “We showed a lot of courage tonight and the ability to compete with a very good team. But we just won one match; there are still two left in this group.”
