Lionesses Diary - Day 12: Final group stage clash arrives as England bid for knockout qualification

Just under two weeks into Euro 2025 and England have reached their final group stage encounter.

With a place in the quarter-finals on the line, they face rivals Wales in a crunch match in St. Gallen with a tie against Germany or Sweden in the offing.

Here is everything you need to know from day 12 at Euro 2025.

READ MORE: Wales captain explains why Lionesses could be in for Euro 2025 shock

READ MORE: Rhian Wilkinson insists Wales not just at Euro 2025 to participate as they target England shock

Today in camp

Having made the journey from their base at the Dolder Grand Hotel yesterday evening, the Lionesses have been settling into their new surroundings in St. Gallen.

Just over 40 miles east of Zurich, St. Gallen is a picturesque setting much smaller than England’s main abode for the tournament.

The scenic views and quaint architecture will have been the backdrop for the Lionesses’ customary matchday walk to activate before the match.

Since then, the once Swiss German-speaking city has become a hive of British accents as Welsh and English fans descend.

It is harder to find a Swiss accent than one hailing from the British Isles on Sunday with the fanzone seemingly the only place open in town, or certainly of any interest to those destined for Kybunpark later today.

In fact, if it was not for the air conditioning, on-time service, and ample leg room, you could have mistaken the train from Zurich to St. Gallen for a British service.

It has been reported that Wales have sold 2,400 tickets for their allocation while England have sold 2,100 with fans also set to be seated in the neutral area.

They will head to Kybunpark for a 9pm kick-off in Switzerland (8pm BST) to find out the fate of both their sides in what will be one of the final matches of the group stages.

Trending topics

As the England squad move deeper into Euro 2025 and focus remains firmly in the present, with the often-repeated line to take each day as it comes in full bloom, Rachel Daly and Millie Bright have been reminiscing about the past in a clip doing the rounds on social media.

Thinking back to the start of their tournament at Euro 2022, they had fans in hysterics as they recounted a story from their opening game at Old Trafford against Austria.

While they would go on to make incredible memories of the 1-0 win courtesy of Beth Mead, Daly and Bright admitted the day started off more traumatically than they had hoped.

As the team bus pulled off, Jill Scott tried to catch the attention of her friend who subsequently tried to run alongside the bus to keep up.

“She was proper running looking [at the bus]. Next thing you know… Bam! Ran into a lamppost,” recounted Daly on the Daly Brightness Podcast.

“We freaked out. We didn’t know what to do. We were like, “Get off the bus. Help her, help her,’” Bright continued.

With just an hour and a half until kick-off of their first home Euros the Lionesses could do little to help but were relieved to know Scott’s friend made it to the game.

What are the pundits saying?

With all attention turning to England’s match against Wales, there remains huge pressure on the Lionesses in another must-win clash.

But having triumphed 4-0 against the Netherlands, they have shown they have the mettle to deal with those situations despite losing key leaders before the tournament.

“The mentality shift was huge. Before the tournament, we were worried about England losing leaders and big characters in the build-up, with Mary Earps and Millie Bright not being there,” said Sue Smith in The Observer.

“But it just shows that they have clearly still got them in camp because they were able to step up and take responsibility.

“Leah Williamson said that the Netherlands game on Wednesday was one of the most pressured she’s felt as an England player, and heading into it was more of a test as a ‘human’ rather than a ­’footballer’.

“We needn’t have worried, as the emphatic way they answered it stands them in good stead for the rest of the tournament.”

That starts with another high-stakes clash against Wales, with England needing six points if they are to ensure progression to the knockout stages.

And Smith believes that the onus is on them to bring attacking intent to the game, with the Dragons likely to sit back in hopes of frustrating their opponents.

“There’s that rivalry. I expect a strong performance defensively. They’ll look to be well organised and make it difficult for England to break them down,” she said.

“They have nothing to lose. We’re the ones who have to try to win.”

Quote of the day

“Of course you [want to knock England out]. It's in our blood, it's in our DNA. The rivalry has always been there and always will be there.

“Hopefully we can perform in a better way than we did against France, keep improving our performances and the result comes with that.” - Wales captain Angharad James.

Best of the rest

A thrilling encounter between Sweden and Germany at Stadion Letzigrund stole the headlines from Group C’s final matches, with Sweden finishing top of the group after a 4-1 win.

But perhaps the bigger story of the night was playing out to the south in Lucerne where Poland secured their first-ever European Championship victory.

They beat Denmark 3-2, having led by a two-goal margin twice, to create more history in Switzerland as Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor, Bayern Munich’s Natalia Padilla-Bidas and 1. FC Koln’s Martyna Wiankowska’s goals saw them over the line.

Padilla-Bidas’ goal also marked Poland’s first-ever goal at a major tournament, with the Poles making their debut at the Euros this summer.

While they failed to qualify for the knockouts, along with opponents Denmark, a third-placed finish in Group C ahead of the 2017 finalists should certainly count as success for a nation at the start of its journey in the women’s game.