Sarina Wiegman excited by England's UEFA Women's EURO 2025 qualification draw

Sarina Wiegman has described England’s UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 qualification group as ‘tough but really exciting’.

Wiegman was speaking from Nyon where the draw for the UEFA Women’s European Qualifiers took place on Tuesday afternoon.

England were in Pot 2 and were drawn with France, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland in Group A3 as the Lionesses bid to retain the UEFA Women’s EURO crown they won in the summer of 2022.

The teams in each qualification pool will now play each other home and away between April and July, with those in League A groups looking to finish in the top two to secure an automatic qualification spot.

Those who don’t finish in the top two in League A groups and successful teams from League B and League C still have the chance to qualify through two rounds of play-offs.

You can learn more about the qualification process and how it is interlinked with the UEFA Women’s Nations League via the video below.

“It's a tough draw but it is a really exciting draw,” Wiegman said.

“Of course, we all went into the draw knowing that Sweden – one of the top countries – would be in Pot 3 because of their Nations League performance in 2023 so with France, Sweden, and Ireland in our group, it will be very competitive.

“It's exciting and now we just have to show up and perform. For the fans and for football, it is really good because it will be so competitive.”

England’s 2023 ended with the team missing out on top spot in their UEFA Women’s Nations League group by one goal, ending Team GB’s hopes of qualifying for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.

However, the Lionesses’ impressive 3-2 and 6-0 wins over the Netherlands and Scotland respectively in December have been followed by an excellent camp in Spain last month, where Wiegman’s side beat Austria 7-2 and defeated Italy 5-1.

And Wiegman added: “I was excited to get the team together again in February and we were able to move forward quickly after our disappointment in December.

“I think the team showed who we are and where we want to go. Everyone wanted to make a good start and show themselves as an individual and as a team ahead of the qualifiers.

“The camp gave us confidence that we are in a good place and now we look forward to seeing who we will face in the first two games in April.”

With England being in Pot 2 for the draw, they were always going to be put alongside one of the world’s top teams from Pot 1.

The Lionesses have not faced France since a 3-1 friendly defeat in April 2021 but were victorious when the sides met in the quarter-final of UEFA Women’s EURO 2017.

France, coached by Hervé Renard, the man who led Saudi Arabia at the 2022 men’s World Cup, are third in the world and finished runners-up at the inaugural Women’s Nations League final last week when they were defeated 2-0 by Spain.

Wiegman said: “France have a very good squad and they showed their qualities by reaching the Nations League final.

“I'm really excited to play against France because we haven’t faced them during my time as England head coach, so I'm really looking forward to those two games.”

Sweden were the third team to be drawn in Group A3. They are fifth in the FIFA rankings and have reached the semi-finals at all three major tournaments since Peter Gerhardsson took charge in September 2017.

The last time the teams met was on that unforgettable night at Bramall Lane in 2022 when England won 4-0 to reach the UEFA Women’s EURO final.

Wiegman said: “Sweden struggled in the Nations League, which is why they were in Pot 3, but over the years, they have performed so well.

“They are a top country with top players in their squad, many of whom we know from the Barclays Women's Super League.

“We know them well because we played against them with England and I played against them when I was with the Netherlands in both the EURO and the World Cup, so they've been at the top level all of that time and they will want to show again that they still belong to the top level of European and world football.”

The last team to be selected in Group A3 was the Republic of Ireland, who are 24th in the FIFA rankings and have not faced the Lionesses for more than a decade, with England winning that friendly in January 2014 by a solitary goal.

The Republic of Ireland, who are led by Eileen Gleeson, won all six of their UEFA Women’s Nations League matches to top a B1 Group that included Hungary, Northern Ireland and Albania.

Wiegman said: “The games with the Republic of Ireland will be really competitive.

“The two countries are obviously close to each other so hopefully lots of fans will have the opportunity to go to watch those games.

“Like with Sweden, the players know each other so well because a lot of them play in the Barclays Women's Super League and some play alongside our players. So I think they are another two games which will be competitive and have some special elements to it too.”

England and the other nations hoping to secure one of the 16 spots at the finals alongside hosts Switzerland don’t have to wait long to get their qualification campaign underway.

The first and second rounds of matches are slated for April 3-9, with the next two fixtures penciled in for May 29-June 4 and the group stage concluding July 10-16.

There will then be two rounds of play-offs between October 23 and December 3 before the finals draw is made on December 16, with the tournament taking place in July 2025.

Wiegman said: “There were lots of positives to come out of our camp in Spain. First of all, the performances on the pitch, but also what we did off the pitch in training sessions, with aspects such as the connection with the Under-23s.

“And now it is getting real again with the qualifiers, and the turnaround is quick so we can't wait to get prepared and get started once again.”

The fixture list and venues will be confirmed in due course.