England vs Sweden LIVE: Lionesses team news and line-ups ahead of Euro 2025 qualifier at Wembley

England actually have a poor record against Sweden despite the recent high-profile wins.

The two sides have met 16 times throughout their histories, with Sweden winning a remarkable nine of these meetings.

Four have ended in a draw, with the other three, including their most recent, ending in an England win.

Sweden last beat the Lionesses in the third-place match at the Women’s World Cup in 2019.

England come into this game in fine form, having won four of their last five games, including convincing 7-2 and 6-0 wins against Austria and Scotland respectively. Their last loss came against Belgium in the UEFA Nations Women’s League – a shock 3-2 defeat that contributed to the team falling short of the competition’s knockout phases.

Sweden, on the other hand, start their qualifying campaign off the back of some mixed form. They recently beat Bosnia & Herzegovina 5-0 in back-to-back Nations League games, but before that lost 5-3 to Spain and 1-0 to Switzerland after a 1-1 draw with Italy in the same tournament.

Both teams have performed well in recent major tournaments too, with England losing the 2023 Women’s World Cup Final 1-0 to Spain and Sweden losing to the same opposition in the semi-finals. When the two sides met at Euro 2022, England triumphed 4-0 at the semi-final on their way to winning the trophy.

Some of the most pertinent recent news surrounding the England team comes from Steph Houghton’s announcement that she will be retiring from football at the end of the season.

The Manchester City defender, who last played for England in 2021, made 121 appearances for her country and captained the side on numerous occasions.

And while the announcement of her decision to retire from football might have been low-key, the impact she has left on the game was not.

She was the sole survivor from City’s first professional team which launched a decade ago and her 20-year career not only spanned four clubs, Sunderland, Leeds, Arsenal and Manchester City, but also the rapid professionalisation of the sport.

“Steph is – without question – an icon of the game,” City manager Gareth Taylor said.

England XI: Earps; Bronze, Williamson, Greenwood, Charles; Walsh, Stanway, Clinton; Mead, Hemp, James.

Captain Leah Williamson is set to return to the Lionesses for the first time in a year, with the Arsenal centre-back fit to start at least one of the two games ahead of fixtures against Sweden tonight and Ireland on Tuesday.

Midfielder Grace Clinton impressed in England’s two wins over Italy and Austria in February and could start in midfield.

Goalkeeper Khiara Keating has returned to Manchester City due to a knee injury, while Millie Bright is not in the squad as the centre-back recovers from a knee injury.

One player who’s particularly excited about the beginning of the Euros qualifying campaign is Grace Clinton.

The England midfielder is excited to “hit the ground running” as the Lionesses start their European Championship qualifying campaign this week.

The defending European champions kick off against Sweden at Wembley on Friday before facing Republic of Ireland in Dublin four days later.

England then play France at St James’ Park in May and Tottenham loanee Clinton believes the side will need to be on “top form”.

England manager Sarina Wiegman has given an update on the fitness of Euros-winning captain Leah Williamson.

But she trained with the group on Wednesday and if she makes it through Thursday’s session unscathed she will be in contention to make her first international appearance in 12 months as the Lionesses begin their qualification campaign.

She has not featured for her country since suffering an ACL injury last April, having pulled out of a training squad in March with a hamstring strain.

“We need to manage it a little bit. She had a full training session on Wednesday, she will be on the pitch today (Thursday), so that looks really good,” Wiegman said.

In 2008, Switzerland was supported in its joint-hosting of the men’s European Championships with a package of £71m (82m Swiss Francs) from its Federal Council, but the amount allocated for next summer’s women’s tournament has been dramatically reduced to just £3.5m (4m Swiss Francs).

The staging of Euro 2025 in Switzerland follows the record-breaking Euro 2022 in England, where the Lionesses defeated Germany in the final in front of a sold-out Wembley at the end of a four-week tournament that smashed several attendance records.

But with qualifying for Euro 2025 starting this week ahead of the tournament finals next July, doubt has been cast over Switzerland’s ability to support the growth of women’s football after government funding was reduced due to cost-cutting measures.

Tonight will be England’s first game in a group that has been branded the ‘group of death’.

England must now face France, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland to even qualify for the Euros. Spare a thought for Ireland, who have drawn three of the world’s top five and will play three of the four semi-finalists from the record-breaking success of Euro 2022.

That, after all, is what the Lionesses are out to emulate. There is sense, though, to Uefa adopting the Nations League model for its European Championship qualifiers. The one-sided, and in the case of the 20-0 against Latvia, record-breaking victories England saw on their way to qualifying for the World Cup aren’t good for anyone. But as England experienced in their Nations League campaign last December, which also worked as qualifiers for the Olympics, the margins are far narrower as the calibre of opposition improves.

Only two teams from England’s group will qualify automatically, though the Lionesses would be assured of a seeded play-off spot even if they finish in the bottom two positions of their group. But, amid the jeopardy, the Lionesses have six good fixtures to look forward to, starting with a rematch against Sweden at Wembley, the Swedes out for revenge following the 4-0 thrashing at the hands of a rampant England side and the heel of Alessia Russo’s boot in the semi-finals of the Euros. 

England begin their European Championship defence as the Euro 2025 qualifiers get underway – but the Lionesses face a ‘group of death’ on the road to Switzerland.

But changes to the European Qualifiers format means Sarina Wiegman’s side face a challenge to reach the Euro 2025 finals, at least in comparison to their run of one-sided victories in qualifying for the last World Cup.

How do England qualify for Euro 2025?

England will play each other team in Group A3 twice, once at home and once away, across three international windows. In League A, the top two teams in each group will qualify automatically for the Euro 2025 finals, with the other two teams who finish third and fourth going through to the play-offs – even if they lose every game. It means at least one of France, England or Sweden, all semi-finalists at the last Euros, will be heading through to the play-offs.

Here’s how the Euro 2025 qualifying works…