Sarina Wiegman makes England error admission after France defeat in Euro 2025 opener

England head coach Sarina Wiegman admitted that the defending champions created their "own problems" following a 2-1 defeat to France in the opening match of their Euro 2025 campaign in Zurich.

The Lionesses had to reorganise after Alessia Russo's early strike was disallowed for offside in the build-up, determined by VAR. The side then faced adversity when Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore netted goals within a challenging four-minute spell in the first half.

Despite the team's efforts, England found it difficult to land shots on target, concluding the game with merely two attempts, and it was only through late tactical changes that they began to show more vitality towards the end of the match, culminating in Keira Walsh's 87th-minute goal, which ultimately served as little more than a consolation.

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"Of course, I'm very disappointed," Wiegman remarked. "I think we started well. After that, of course we know France are very good, but we created chances (for France) by playing short passes all the time. We were a bit sloppy too."

This match marked Wiegman's first loss in the group stages of a major tournament since she took charge; she previously guided the Netherlands to Euro success in 2017 and led England to their first-ever major trophy three summers ago.

She further commented: "When we built, we chose to do short passes and they were aiming for that.

"They were pretty good in midfield, so I think we had to go around at moments. On the right side, we had overloads where we could find that, but then you have to skip players and not play the short passes, but when you receive them you have to be tighter on the ball and be quicker.

"We played out of that press that developed too, so I think we caused a bit of our own problems, knowing that when you don't do these things right against France, it's a very good team so they can harm you."

The Lionesses now face a critical clash with the Netherlands on Wednesday, which appears increasingly like a must-win encounter to stave off the threat of an untimely exit from the competition.

Lauren James made her return from a three-month layoff due to a hamstring injury, featuring for 30 minutes in the friendly against Jamaica on Sunday, and was deemed fit enough to start, playing for an hour against France.

The Chelsea striker was lively with the ball at her feet, squandering an early opportunity before sending a cross through the box that just missed connecting with her teammates.

When questioned about the decision to start the 23 year old, Wiegman responded: "No. I don't see it as a mistake. It's a choice and I think if she'd scored in the first minute and if the cross she made, we just couldn't get a head on, I think it would have been a different conversation."

Captain Leah Williamson spoke to ITV, reflecting on the match and suggesting the Lionesses "defended cheaply in one-on-ones" and conceded possession too easily, leading to "cheaply, (so) you're defending in an emergency".

Defender Jess Carter shared her thoughts, saying: "I think we played like we were a little bit scared today, maybe we weren't aggressive enough, we maybe were worrying about their threats in behind and what they can do rather than doing what we can do."

Carter remains unfazed by the notion that England is facing a significant challenge, asserting: "I don't really think it's any different, before the tournament even started we knew we had to win games and we set out to win every single game and that doesn't change now."