Sarina Wiegman gives her verdict after England handed tough group at Euro 2025 as Lionesses aim to defend title

England will head to Switzerland next summer aiming to retain their European Championship title but will have to do it the hard way after being handed a tough group. The Lionesses have been drawn in Group D and will take on France, Netherlands and Wales in the first round.

The Lionesses may have avoided world champions Spain and hosts Switzerland but know France will prove tough opponents. England finished as runners-up behind Les Bleues in their qualification group and lost 2-1 at St James' Park back in May. Wiegman will also face her native Netherlands as well as debutants and neighbours Wales.

She told BBC Sport: “The draw was nice. The group is tough! These are the facts and we knew how the pots were that it would be difficult anyway. The women's game is developing so quickly so I don't think there are easy things any more. We have to be ready for every single game. The women's game has changed. Before we went to the qualifiers for the World Cup, it was kind of easy. Sometimes you could predict if you were going to win. In sport it's really good when it's unpredictable because that's the exciting bit about it."

Wiegman also spoke about the prospect of taking on Wales: "Of course it is a huge accomplishment for them, qualifying for the first time in their history, so congratulations to Wales. We are neighbours, so a good rivalry on the pitch. That will be a challenging one too. I think they will fight for every yard in the game we play them and I think they will do that in every single game - so will we."

The European Championship is due to kick off on Wednesday, July 2. Before then, England will be in Nations League action and will take on Belgium, Portugal and Spain.