England‘s Lauren James scored twice, while Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone also found the net to put the defending women’s European champions firmly back in the driver’s seat at Euro 2025 with an emphatic 4-0 victory over the Netherlands on Wednesday.
Four days after a lacklustre 2-1 loss to France made Wednesday a must-win match, England came out firing on all cylinders in front of a festive crowd that included Britain’s Prince William.
James put England on the scoresheet in the 22nd minute when goalkeeper Hannah Hampton picked out Alessia Russo with a stunning long ball. Russo slipped it to James on the edge of the box who worked the ball onto her left foot before unleashing a screamer into the top corner.
Stanway doubled England’s lead seconds before halftime when the Dutch struggled to clear the ball and the midfielder was there to fizz a first-time shot past wrong-footed goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar.
An unmarked James completed her double in the 60th with an easy shot from inside the box. That goal meant James has been directly involved in more goals than any other European player across the last two major tournaments, with five goals and 3 assists, according to ESPN Research.
and Toone added more misery for the Dutch seven minutes later. Russo held up the ball in the penalty area before sending it to a running Toone, who calmly slotted home.
For the Netherlands, European champions in 2017, it was a record margin of defeat at a World Cup or European Championship, having never previously lost by more than two goals.
England play tournament debutants Wales in their final Group D game on Sunday.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
