Women's Euro 2025: England and Wales to meet in group stages

The Lionesses will be looking to defend their title after their success in 2022, ITV News' Martha Fairlie reports

Defending champions England and debutants Wales will meet in the group stages of the Women's Euro 2025 in Switzerland.

The teams were drawn in Group D, along with France and the Netherlands - England manager Sarina Wiegman's native country.

Rhian Wilkinson’s side are playing at the finals of a major tournament for the first time after their play-off victory over the Republic of Ireland, while the Lionesses will be looking to defend their title after their success in 2022.

Wales will be the lowest-ranked team in Switzerland next summer at 30, 26 places behind England.

England will open their Euro 2025 against France in Zurich while Wales will play their opener on the same day against the Netherlands in Lucerne.

Wiegman led the Dutch team to European glory in 2017 before repeating the feat with the Lionesses five years later, becoming the first coach to do so.

The teams were split into four groups of four teams and labelled groups A to D, with matches to be held across eight locations in the country – Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, St Gallen, Lucerne, Sion and Thun.

Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Finland were placed in group A.

In group B is Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy.

Finally, Germany, Poland, Denmark and Sweden are in group C.

The draw was hosted by former Arsenal and England player Ian Wright and Swiss sports presenter Annette Fetscherin.

Referencing England's win in 2022, Wright said: "It totally changed women's football in our country forever."

The tournament will begin with group stages on July 2, with the final to be held on July 27.

The draw comes as UEFA announced they were more than doubling the team prize money for the women's Euro 2025.

The 16 teams will share €41 million (£34 million) - a 156% increase on 2022.

The Lionesses were also placed in the same group as France and the Netherlands - England's manager Sarina Wiegman's former team. Credit: PA

Each federation will get a minimum of €1.8 million (£1.4 million) for playing and will share at least 30% of the money among the players, UEFA’s executive committee said on Monday.

The title winner can earn up to €5.1 million (£4.2 million).

In comparison, the men’s Euro 2024 tournament had a total prize fund of €331 million (£273 million), from overall revenue of about €2.4 billion (£1.9 billion).

The title-winner Spain earned €28.25 million (£23 million).

UEFA said these changes reflect their continued commitment to grow women's football across Europe.

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