England v France Match Report

Reigning champions, England, were in disarray in their opening group match against France. Despite the claim of this tournament being a new challenge for the team instead of a defence of their title, the Lionesses seemed lost and dazed for the majority of the match and allowed themselves to be ‘bullied’ by France, perhaps due to the weight of expectation and pressure to succeed once more in the tournament. France, on the other hand, seemed well prepared and ready to take on the English side, making use of England’s lackluster passes and timid style of play. There were also several questionable VAR decisions which seemed to fall in France’s favour and undermine any shred of English confidence on the field, which is clear in the lack of creative, attacking plays from star striker Alessia Russo and any linking plays through the midfield towards her. 

Game Play

France opted for a 4-3-3 line-up for this match, highlighting their strength and capability in all areas of the pitch. However, England could have opted to use their pace and skill to take advantage of space left by high pressing fullbacks. Their starting eleven featured Chelsea’s Sandy Baltimore who has enjoyed her club’s successes this season and is likely hoping to repeat this winning streak this summer with her national team. 

Comparatively, England began in a 4-2-3-1 line-up leaving Alessia Russo as the lone striker for this match. However, a shock to many was that Lauren James was given the nod over Ella Toone to start the match yesterday. Their 4-2-3-1 line-up could have given them an opportunity to use the midfield in order to break down any attacking plays in the central channel. Although, as Lucy Bronze seemed to be playing far too high up the pitch, this became quite a challenge for the Lionesses. 

Substitutes were a large feature in this game, with both France and England making all five substitutions in the second half. The England number 17, Michelle Agyemang, arguably had the most impact, despite being the last substitute of the game and only playing around 10 minutes. She seemed to reignite a passion and purpose in the England side, which is evident in Keira Walsh’s goal in the 86th minute of the match. 

First Half

Throughout the first half, France put a lot of pressure on the England midfield, denying any attacking plays made through the central channels and taking advantage of players such as Lucy Bronze who were consistently out of shape. Hampton made a few crucial saves, highlighting her goalkeeping prowess and her deserved place in the number 1 shirt. The disallowed England goal in the fifteenth minute of the game is perhaps the most controversial moment of the match, with Beth Mead’s first touch being caught offside seemingly only by her elbow. Despite this, it was some of the only good attacking plays that we saw from England which shows some promise for their remaining two group games against The Netherlands and Wales. 

France made some intimidating attacking plays, resulting in them making significant progress towards the England defensive half. With Bronze playing far too high and England’s possession being too loose, France were able to score their first goal in the 35th minute through number 12, Marie-Antoinette Katoto. With Jess Carter not being a natural left back, this left Leah Williamson stranded at the back which made it easy for France to score. 

Lauren James put in a shift to attempt to prevent France from scoring, but England were overly optimistic about an advantageous play, leaving them out of shape. And, as a result, Sandy Baltimore was able to score France’s second goal straight into England’s goal meaning Hannah Hampton could do nothing about the strike. Despite there being a call for a foul on Russo in the build up for the goal, VAR fell in France’s favour again and the goal stood. 

England weren’t connecting to Walsh in the midfield particularly and there were several times when their left side looked particularly weak. France took advantage of England’s weaknesses and marked them extremely well resulting in a desperate shot from England’s Georgia Stanway in additional time. 

Second Half

Once more, Hannah Hampton made several good saves in the second half, blocking shots from France which came from a loose pass in the England midfield. Lucy Bronze was playing in an entirely different way to how she played with Chelsea this season. She’s been brilliant all season, won a treble with Chelsea and now she’s playing like she's never seen a ball. In the 60th minute, both teams made some substitutes Niamh Charles came on for Jess Carter, Ella Toone came on Beth Mead, and Chloe Kelly came on for Lauren James. For France, Kadidiatou Diani came on for Delphine Cascarino, Melvine Malard came on for Sandy Baltimore and Clara Mateo came on for Marie-Antoinette Katoto. 

Leah Williamson won a free kick for the English side, and despite a VAR check for a red card for Melvine Malard no bookings were made against the French team. After this, England wasted no time with their chances, but they couldn’t manage to make anything come from them. 

Ella Toone received a yellow card in the 74th minute for a challenge that was arguably tame in comparison to the earlier challenge on Leah Williamson. Then, the teams made several more substitutions, England taking Georgia Stanway off and replacing her with Grace Clinton, and France taking Élisa de Almeida off and replacing her with Melween Ndongala, and replacing Sakina Karchaoui with Sandie Toletti. 

With a quiet few minutes for both sides, England made their final substitution, putting nineteen year-old Michelle Agyemang on for Alex Greenwood. Less than a minute after this substitution, Keira Walsh managed to claw one goal back for England with less than 10 minutes to go until full time. After this, England made France’s job a lot harder, as they made more attacking plays and won a corner. 

However, none of these last ditch efforts resulted in anything for either side leaving the final score at 2-1 to France. 

Statistics

England had the majority of the possession in this game, which may seem surprising considering the lack of chances that came from it. They had 57% of the possession, leaving France with just 43%. However, France had many more attempts on goal than the Lionesses, with 14 total shots and an impressive six on target. 

Ultimately, this game highlights several work-ons for the England team and presents France as the dangerous attacking side that they are. Although the Lionesses could now be in danger of not making it out of the group stages, a stand out moment in this match was the successes of younger members of the squad, in particular Michelle Agyemang and Grace Clinton. 

Both France and England will next play on Wednesday 9th of July, with England facing The Netherlands at 5pm in Zurich and France playing Wales at 8pm in St Gallen.