England Unleashed Hell On The Netherlands

After two full rounds of the 2025 Euros group stage, every title contender has some kind of weakness. Germany can't stop anyone, Spain can't stop any counter attack, and France is in the middle of a generation shift (which is less a flaw and more of an intentional change, though there are still the attendant growing pains). And then there's England, which might be the sturdiest team top-to-bottom in the tournament but which is navigating enough minor questions that have congealed into one large aura of uncertainty.

What if the defense doesn't perform to its potential? What if the Lionesses miss Fran Kirby and Millie Bright more than expected? What if Lauren James isn't/doesn't stay healthy? What if England just Englands it up? (This last one is not fair, admittedly, given that England won the last Euros, albeit on home soil, and made the final of the 2023 World Cup. But hey, England is still England, so an Englanding can never be ruled out.) Even the negative answers to some of these questions aren't necessarily tournament-sinkers, but pile enough of them up and things could turn into nightmare.

Through two matches, though, there's not much to worry about in the England camp, and that's even after picking up an opening match loss to France. No one wants to lose a group stage match, especially not against a fellow contender, but England acquitted itself well enough on July 5, scoring early (the goal was disallowed) and fighting back after going down 2-0 to some great individual goals from Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore. There were nitpicks; manager Sarina Wiegman—who is trying to win her third straight Euros, having won in 2022 with England and in 2017 with the Netherlands—noted that England "played too many short passes and that’s what they wanted because they wanted to press. We were too sloppy." But overall, there was reason for optimism ahead of Wednesday's match against the Netherlands, even though a loss would mean England would become the first-ever reigning champions to go out in the group stage.

Indeed, England did not lose. In fact, England was about as far from losing as is possible in a major tournament. In a 4-0 rout of the overmatched Oranje, the Lionesses showed why they are both the current title-holders and the second favorite, after Spain, to lift the trophy this summer. It all started with James, who answered definitively that she is (almost) all the way back from a hamstring injury she suffered in April. While, for the second match in a row, she did not play the full 90 minutes, this time it was because England didn't need her for that long.

Freed up from trying to play from the center, as in the France match—thanks to Wiegman, who rarely changes up her lineups, dropping Beth Mead for Ella Toone, who played centrally on Wednesday—James was a terror down the right. The opening goal, in the 22nd minute, came from some great movement into space from her alongside striker Alessia Russo. As Russo took a counter attack to the right wing, James jogged towards the center, received the pass, then cut inside before firing near post with her left foot, not giving Netherlands keeper Daphne van Domselaar a chance to stop it:

I have to credit Russo here for her performance as well, as she put in a tireless shift running and splitting the Netherlands backline, continuously opening space up for others while still firing five shots of her own at the goal. Russo is England's best option up top precisely because she can work with or without the ball at her feet. She ended Wednesday with three assists, though one of those was a mere formality: Right before halftime, after James fired a free kick into the box, Russo tapped the loose ball ever so slightly at Georgia Stanway, who then snuck a low shot past everyone into the bottom corner, doubling England's lead just when it looked like the Netherlands might get a chance to regroup:

Not that it would have mattered, though. The first half was one-way traffic, as the Lionesses held 62 percent of the possession, outshot the Dutch 11-1, and generally felt no threats against their backline, perhaps the side's only relatively weak unit. The second half was more of the same, even if the Netherlands, hunting for goals, held the ball about as much as England did in the first. There was no real threat of a comeback, and any hopes were squashed by, who else, James:

Russo would pop up on the scoresheet with another assist seven minutes later, though the play was really opened up by an incredible long ball from Jess Carter. Russo latched on to that ball, held it up, then found Toone, who took a touch then ripped the fourth goal in, handing the Netherlands its worst major tournament defeat ever:

This was the type of match England needed, and the one that it is capable of unleashing on any opponent. The Netherlands are in a bit of a down period, so the team isn't as strong as, say, the one that made the World Cup final in 2019, but the Dutch are still battle-tested and a tricky opponent to break down. That England did just that with ease on Wednesday should strike fear into Wales for the final Group D match, and to anyone who is standing in the way of England's hopes to repeat as winners of the competition. Other than Spain, no team in the Euros has the combination of talent, experience, and potential that England does, and even though France showed that the English side isn't infallible, that opening defeat could end up being a blip in a third straight deep run in a major tournament.