France 2 England 1: Lionesses already in must-win territory after Euro 2025 opening night defeat

Lauren James returned to Sarina Wiegman’s starting XI and England thought they had struck first against the 2022 semi-finalists but had an early Alessia Russo effort chalked off after a VAR check.

Instead Marie-Antoinette Katoto fired in a 36th-minute opener before Chelsea’s Sandy Baltimore doubled France’s lead three minutes later.

Late substitutions sparked the Lionesses into life in the closing stages and Walsh gave them hope, halving the deficit in the 87th minute, but they could not salvage a point.

“Of course, I’m very disappointed,” said Wiegman. “I think we started well. After that, of course we know France are very good, but we created chances (for France) by playing short passes all the time. We were a bit sloppy too.”

It was a first major tournament group-stage defeat for the Dutch head coach, who won the Euros with the Netherlands in 2017 before leading England to a maiden major trophy three summers ago.

She added: “When we built, we chose to do short passes and they were aiming for that.

“They were pretty good in midfield, so I think we had to go around at moments. On the right side, we had overloads where we could find that, but then you have to skip players and not play the short passes, but when you receive them you have to be tighter on the ball and be quicker.

“We played out of that press that developed too, so I think we caused a bit of our own problems, knowing that when you don’t do these things right against France, it’s a very good team so they can harm you.”

The Lionesses’ task does not get any easier, with the Netherlands on Wednesday now looking even more like a must-win game to avoid the genuine possibility of an early exit.

James, who returned from a three-month hamstring injury absence in a 30-minute cameo in their Jamaica send-off friendly on Sunday, was deemed fit to start and played an hour.

The Chelsea forward looked a threat on the ball, missing a good chance in the first minute before her attempt to tee up a team-mate with a cross evaded several English heads.

Asked if it was an error to start the 23-year-old, Wiegman said: “No. I don’t see it as a mistake. It’s a choice and if she’d scored in the first minute and if the cross she made, we just couldn’t get a head on, it would have been a different conversation.”

James got herself involved inside the first minute, latching on to the ball inside France’s penalty area before firing a left-footed effort off-target.

Three minutes later the Chelsea forward was skipping around the edge of the area, sending in a cross that just evaded several England heads.

Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton got her first taste of major-tournament action when she came out to collect Selma Bacha’s free-kick, earning an appreciative round of applause from the England delegation stationed behind her.

Russo thought she had scored after pouncing on the rebound from Lauren Hemp’s saved effort, but a VAR check determined Beth Mead had been marginally offside in the build-up.

Momentum shifted in France’s favour, their efforts inching ever closer as Hampton was forced into a good save, sticking out a leg to deny Elisa De Almeida.

And it was the Paris St Germain defender whose initial midfield interception was the catalyst for the opener, finding Delphine Cascarino with a well-weighted pass.

San Diego Wave forward Cascarino then sent the ball across the face of goal, where Katoto tapped in.

Baltimore doubled their advantage three minutes later, Leah Williamson and her Chelsea team-mate Lucy Bronze unable to contain the in-form Blues star before she rifled into the top right corner.

The second half got off to a lively start for France, with Hampton denying Grace Geyoro but fumbling her save and having to scramble back just in time to prevent more damage.

James’ evening ended after 60 minutes as part of a triple-change bu Wiegman.

The Lionesses looked to be running out of time and chances by the 77th minute when Grace Clinton made her major tournament debut, followed by Michelle Agyemang’s minutes later.

But England were suddenly sparked to life, substitute Ella Toone nearly halving the deficit with a deflected effort.

Walsh finally clawed one back after France could not fully clear an England corner, the Chelsea midfielder taking advantage, guiding a shot past Pauline Peyraud-Magnin from the edge of the area to give the Lionesses a fighting chance.

But, while they finally looked a threat, five minutes of added time were not enough to salvage a draw.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​