France vs England LIVE: Lionesses result and final score from vital Euro 2025 qualifier

The England manager was speaking to ITV:

“A team effort. You know the second half is going to be different and they are going to push, but we worked so hard to stay together and keep the win.

“Of course it gives a boost. We want to win and we are in a better position now. The group is totally open. We said from the beginning this is a really tough group with top level teams. It helps when you win, but most of all we did better than Friday.”

On Alessia Russo’s performance:

“She’s working so hard on that [hold-up play] and being in right positions in the build-up, being in the right positions when we come in the final third. You saw today and Friday she played a proper game too.”

England have had their fair share of wake-up calls as of late and they haven’t always heeded them. This time, though, they finally did what was required.

The Lionesses found their rhythm against France in Saint-Etienne and ironed out the issues which blighted them in Friday’s defeat in Newcastle. In doing so they handed a significant boost to their Euro 2025 qualification hopes.

They are joint-second in Group A3, trailing leaders France by two points with two fixtures remaining. The top two teams in the group automatically progress to next year’s tournament in Switzerland, the others have to endure play-off rounds.

It didn’t need a complete overhaul, rather some fine-tuning. That Sarina Wiegman opted to make no changes other than replacing the injured Mary Earps with Hannah Hampton turned some heads, but that soon faded out of the conversation.

Georgia Stanway delivered the first blow. Then Alessia Russo got in on the act. By half-time England were in the unexpected circumstance of leading 2-0 and it was definitely deserved.

Report by Adam Millington in Saint-Etienne

And finally here’s the Group A3 standings as we head into the final two rounds of fixtures. It’s all to play for between France, Sweden and England heading into July, and three does not go into two...

See you then!

22 mins: GOAL! England took a deserved lead in this must-win clash thanks to Georgia Stanway’s rocket of a strike.

34 mins: GOAL! Alessia Russo then doubled England’s advantage with this back-post header. The striker led the line brilliantly all night.

71 mins: PENALTY! France were given hope when England lost possession and Leah Williamson conceded a penalty. It set up a nervy ending.

89 mins: SAVE! Hannah Hampton made a brilliant stop to keep England in front, as the Lionesses held on to victory.

Some very positive reactions flying around about England’s first-half performance, with Karen Carney calling it one of the best she’s ever seen from the Lionesses under Sarina Wiegman.

Ian Wright, however, made sure to say that England could have been punished in the second half after letting France back into the game. The Lionesses would have expected to face some pressure from France - but their game management was a little sloppy at times.

England host the Republic of Ireland on Friday 12 July, before travelling to Sweden on Tuesday 16 July.

With five weeks to go until those fixtures, England have the tricky task of balancing their off-season with training camps.

Alessia Russo, who was surely player of the match, speaking to ITV:

“I think we got our standard’s back to where we wanted them. There are still parts we will work on for sure. We know the level is higher than ever and to even qualify for the Euros is going to be harder than ever.

“I’m just trying to work hard. I’m learning there is so much more to the nine [than scoring]. I’m just trying to work on my game each day.

“We know our standards have to be higher. We probably let them slip a bit recently. We know the talent we have, we know the potential we have and we saw a lot more flashes of it tonight.”

This save from Hannah Hampton in the 89th minute...

A huge moment for the goalkeeper, with Mary Earps out injured. What a selection headache Wiegman has now!

So with two games to go:

France have nine points and Sweden and England have seven. France play Sweden next so someone will drop points.

A brilliant win for the Lionesses - an away in France to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Euros automatically alive!

A game of two halves, but so many standout performances all over the pitch, from Hampton in goal, Stanway in midfield, to Russo leading the line.

The first time England have won in France in 51 years!