Alessia Russo silences the doubters, but Sarina Wiegman now has a big goalkeeper decision to make: Lionesses winners and losers as Mary Earps and Hannah Hampton emerge with contrasting emotions from England's latest Euro 2025 qualifiers

Alessia Russo's England career to date has had plenty of ups and downs. She thrived at Euro 2022 as an impact substitute, struggled to have the same effect as a starter after that tournament, bagged some huge goals in the run to the 2023 Women's World Cup final, but has had questions asked of her since. In this camp, though, she showed the very best side of herself.

In truth, it was a surprise to see Russo in England's starting XI on Friday since the game came just seven days after she had featured in Arsenal's controversial post-season fixture in Australia, some 10,000 miles away. However, there was no sign of jet lag in her display in Newcastle, even if France emerged victorious. She was full of energy, willing to run at defenders and held the ball up well.

Four days later, she was even better. Russo's movement was superb in Saint-Etienne and helped her bag a fourth goal in six appearances for the Lionesses in 2024. There are still questions about how clinical she is, with her lacking her shooting boots in the first France game for sure, but this was a reminder of why Wiegman has so much faith in the 25-year-old. Given the lack of other true No.9s at her disposal, it was timely, too.

Earps hit an impressive milestone on Friday night when she made her 50th appearance for England. Given how out of the picture she was when Wiegman arrived less than three years ago, it was a fantastic achievement and a testament to how trustworthy she has been in the Dutchwoman's tenure.

For it to end after just a few minutes then was sad. The Manchester United star couldn't hold back the tears after she sustained a hip injury less than 30 seconds into the match, from executing a simple pass.

Wiegman offered a positive update on Earps this week and expects her to be back in camp next month, but there is also the Hampton of it all. While the Lionesses' usual No.1 was absent, second-in-line Hampton stepped up big time in Saint-Etienne and has only intensified the competition for that place.

Had Hampton not showcased her wonderful reflexes in the dying moments of England's trip to France, the outlook would be very different. It was another instance of her taking her chances with the Lionesses. This was the fourth that the 23-year-old has had in 2024, one of those enforced when Earps limped off on Friday, and she has performed so well in them that the No.1 shirt in Wiegman's team is slowly becoming more and more up for grabs.

It'll take something significant for Earps to lose that spot, it must be said, or a particularly bold decision from the coach. However, Hampton just continues to put herself in a good position when it comes to getting minutes for her country.

It was known ahead of this camp that Wiegman had some big decisions to make in defence, with Leah Williamson and Millie Bright, her centre-back pairing for the Euro 2022 triumph, both in an England squad together for the first time in over a year. Yet, few anticipated her making calls that meant Alex Greenwood did not get on the pitch at all for this double-header with France.

Greenwood was one of the Lionesses' most in-form defenders throughout the 2023-24 season and one of the very best in the Women's Super League. Yes, Wiegman has roots in that Williamson-Bright partnership, but the former hasn't returned to her best since coming back from an ACL injury earlier this year, and Bright only got back on the pitch at the start of May following five months out. At worst, it felt possible that Greenwood would be moved to left-back, her previous role. At best, she'd pair one of them in the heart of defence.

That she wasn't involved at all was a shock and, in truth, harsh. The defensive areas may be extremely competitive, but the Man City star has every right to feel aggrieved about her role being reduced to one on the bench, given how brilliant she has been playing.

On the flip side of that, it was a fantastic camp for Jess Carter. She assumed the role many thought Greenwood would, starting at left-back in both games, and she hardly put a foot wrong. Like the Man City star, Carter has also played brilliantly for club and country this past season and she too deserved more than to be simply cast aside while Wiegman was figuring out how to reintegrate Williamson and Bright.

After defeat to France, Wiegman pointed to Carter's outstanding one-v-one defending when explaining why she got the nod in defence - and the Chelsea star backed that up in the second game when she was absolutely sublime. No one won more tackles in Saint-Etienne than her five, while only France left-back Selma Bacha regained possession more often.

Carter's growth as a player in the past year has been tremendous and she showed that again this past week, which bodes very well for her going forward.

Wiegman has given chances out to plenty of young players in recent camps. In February, Grace Clinton earned her first two caps for England and impressed to the point that she started against Sweden at Wembley in April, for a huge Euro 2025 qualifying campaign opener. Jess Park's lively substitute appearances in the first international break of the year saw her handed a place in the XI for the trip to Ireland, too, a game which saw Hampton become the first goalkeeper not called Earps to play a competitive Lionesses fixture since September 2022.

In this camp, though, Wiegman's team selection was a throwback to Euro 2022. Eight of her starters at that tournament, at which she never altered her XI, were in the line-up for France's visit on Friday, with the only exceptions being Carter (playing the left-back role that the since retired Rachel Daly did), Toone and Russo (who both came off the bench throughout Euro 2022). The only change she made for the second game was in goal, due to Earps' injury.

That's not to make a dig at those players, but rather to question why Wiegman didn't turn to some of the exciting talents in this squad to bring extra energy to the pitch in these games. As well as Clinton and Park, she could count on Aggie Beever-Jones, who won a maiden call-up this month after a breakthrough season at Chelsea. However, even when the game in Newcastle was crying out for a change, she hesitated and eventually put on two players, in Chloe Kelly and Fran Kirby, who have struggled for form of late.

Sometimes the calls for the younger players to be involved right away in a big role can be a little premature, but given the aforementioned trust that Wiegman has put in the likes of Clinton and Park lately, it was a little disappointing that she didn't turn to them when the Lionesses needed something different, particularly in Newcastle.