England regarded a really totally different facet from the one which received Euro 2022 as their title defence began with a 2-1 defeat to France, says former Lionesses midfielder Fran Kirby.
Sarina Wiegman misplaced a European Championship recreation for the primary time in her profession on Saturday, as first-half targets from Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore guided Les Bleues to an enormous victory on matchday one in Group D.
It was simply the third time Wiegman had tasted defeat at a serious worldwide event in 27 such matches, along with her different losses each coming in World Cup finals – in 2019 with the Netherlands and 2023 with England.
The Lionesses are the primary defending champions to lose their opening recreation on the Ladies’s Euros, leaving them observing an early exit in the event that they fail to beat the Netherlands on Wednesday.
And Kirby, who joined goalkeeper Mary Earps in retiring from worldwide soccer on the eve of the event, believes there have been worrying indicators in Saturday’s defeat.
“It was very totally different to the Lionesses workforce I’m used to taking part in in and watching,” Kirby instructed BBC Radio 5 Stay about Saturday’s loss.
“There have been too many errors, too many sloppy passes. Defensively, we regarded shaky and disjointed. It was actually robust to look at.
“We at all times do evaluation after the sport however I believe this evaluation most likely needs to be some of the necessary ones of Sarina’s managerial profession.”
1 – England are the primary ever workforce to lose their first match at a UEFA Ladies’s EURO event because the reigning champions. Actuality. #WEURO2025 pic.twitter.com/KS100vkAiE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 5, 2025
A number of England regulars endured disrupted 2024-25 campaigns, with 4 of Saturday’s starters – Lauren James, Georgia Stanway, Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp – battling again from harm to make Wiegman’s squad.
However Manchester Metropolis winger Hemp is refusing to make excuses for his or her poor begin, telling reporters: “Quite a lot of us have had an enormous period of time out and that’s clearly been gutting.
“I’ve missed many of the season, however we’ve additionally had 4 or 5 video games to stand up to scratch and I believe it’s no excuse actually.
“I believe the most important factor for us to only stick collectively. I believe we caught collectively as a workforce yesterday all through the entire recreation and into the ultimate levels and that’s what we have to take with us.”
England have now misplaced three of their final 4 aggressive matches (one win), after solely shedding 4 of their first 39 beneath Wiegman (30 wins, 5 attracts).
They final suffered a group-stage defeat at a serious event (World Cup or Euros) in 2015, additionally happening to France of their opening match on the World Cup in Canada.
