How does England’s Euros progress compare to 2022?

England have booked their spot in the Euro 2025 quarter-finals, with two impressive displays rounding off their group-stage campaign and bringing back memories of their Euro 2022 campaign.

After defeat by France in their opening game, the Lionesses have enjoyed big wins against the Netherlands and Wales.

Now that Sarina Wiegman’s side are beginning to look more like their usual selves, the prospect of them successfully defending their title looks a distinct possibility.

England may not have been as impactful in front of goal as they were in 2022, but that definitely doesn’t mean they have performed badly in that department.

It took until the second game for the goals to start flowing for the Lionesses, but, once they did, they have had more players get involved.

Six players scored their 14 group stage goals at Euro 2022, while eight have netted their 11 this time around.

Beth Mead was the key player three years ago, claiming five in the group stage – including a hat-trick in the 8-0 thrashing of Norway. This time, though, the most any England player has scored is two.

Lauren James has also made a clear impact for Wiegman’s side this summer and even altered the overall focus of the attack.

Lucy Bronze has always been an important presence on the right flank, offering attacking support from full-back, but she has had 87 touches in the final third, compared to her 102 at Euro 2022.

Interestingly, England have performed better in front of goal than would be expected given the chances they have created. They produced 13 expected goals (xG) in 2022 and scored one more (14), while their tally of 11 this year is 1.5 more than their xG of 9.5.

England have already shipped more goals than they did in the entirety of Euro 2022.

They have conceded three times in the group stage in Switzerland – twice against France and once against Wales. They only conceded two in 2022 – to Spain in the quarter-final and then Germany in the final.

They didn’t let in any goals in the group stage last time, with only 0.8 expected goals against being registered, while that figure is 3.2 at this tournament.

The game against France is what plays the biggest part in that, with England’s back line improving considerably for their final two games. France managed 2.34 xG as they beat England 2-1 in their opening game.

The 14 shots they faced in that match was only one fewer than the whole of the group stage in 2022.

They have, though, won more duels than they did in 2022 – 56.1% v 47.1%. The Lionesses won just 41.6% against France, so the other two group-stage games have played a significant role in boosting their stats.

Substitutes were a key aspect of England’s journey to winning Euro 2022, with Ella Toone and Alessia Russo often proving to be a trusty duo off the bench.

Wiegman has opted to make more changes this year, with 15 substitutions made compared to 13 in the opening round of 2022.

She’s also opted to change her line-up, something she didn’t do last time but which has paid dividends in Switzerland.

Bringing in Toone in place of Beth Mead helped considerably with their improvements in their final two games, allowing James to move out to the wing.

While she couldn’t find a way to rescue anything against France, changes have worked well in the other two games.

Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones both scored after emerging from the bench in the 6-1 win against Wales.

Chloe Kelly, who also came off the bench in each group-stage game in 2022, has been brought on as a substitute in every match at Euro 2025, as has Niamh Charles.

As was the case in 2022, Wiegman’s first substitutions have always addressed the attacking line, with either Kelly or Mead being among the first players introduced.

Losing to France in their opening game caused much consternation about the Lionesses’ ability to defend their title.

However, an underwhelming display in their first fixture is something the Lionesses are used to.

At the 2023 Women’s World Cup, they scraped to a 1-0 win against Haiti, while they only managed to beat Austria 1-0 in their Euro 2022 opener.

The difference this time is that they played a much higher calibre of opposition as France are ranked 10th in the world.

Arguably, had they been playing the same standard of opponent at previous tournaments then the same could have occurred.

This year’s group includes France, ranked 10th in the world, the Netherlands, who are 11th, and Wales, who are 30th.

In 2022, England had 11th-ranked Norway, 21st-ranked Austria and world number 47 Northern Ireland.

England have won their games against home nations in each of the past two Euros.