Williamson reflects on "really frustrating" France defeat

Leah Williamson admitted England underperformed in their opening EURO 2025 defeat to France – but is confident they can learn from their mistakes.

Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore had the French 2-0 up at half-time after Alessia Russo’s goal was ruled out for a marginal offside, before Keira Walsh set up a grandstand finish with an 87^th-minute strike.

The Lionesses were unable to force an equaliser, though, and Williamson rued the defensive slip-ups in the first 45 minutes.

The England skipper said: "We lost the game with cheap one-on-one defending. We learned from those mistakes and grew in the game but we weren't good enough.

"We couldn't keep the ball in the areas we needed to keep it. We got better as they tired but it wasn't enough in the end.

"Sometimes it happens. It's really frustrating but tomorrow we’ll be back on it."

Opening day Group D defeat.

How the evening unfolded in Zurich ⬇️

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 5, 2025

Williamson explained in more detail what went wrong in the build-up to the two goals England conceded but was also keen to stress that spirits will not drop ahead of Wednesday’s clash against The Netherlands.

She said: "When you lose the ball and you’re that expansive, you’re emergency defending. When you're done on the counter-attack against quality like that it is tough but we hold ourselves to higher standards in individual battles.

"Tomorrow, we will have a new game plan, different spaces available and a different type of opposition."