Wiegman wants England urgency in quarter-finals
Sarina Wiegman has demanded her England team produces the same urgency that got it through a tricky group at UEFA Women's Euro 2025 when it plays in the knockout stages.
England finished second to France in Group D after thumping Wales 6-1 in its final group match, setting up a date with Sweden in the quarter-finals of the competition.
England's title defence in Switzerland started with a defeat to France in its opening game, but Wiegman's team responded brilliantly with a 4-0 win over Netherlands and then the thrashing of Wales.
It knew a victory against tournament debutant Wales would be enough to advance, and beat it with relative ease.
England will now turn its attention to a clash with Sweden on Friday (AEST), a side it has beaten just once in their past six meetings across all competitions, drawing three and losing two.
Wiegman wants her side to build on the solid foundation laid by the win over Wales to edge closer to retaining its crown.
"I think we built momentum also from the France game because that really brought us together and everyone really wanted to perform and be successful," Wiegman said.
"Then this urgency comes. In the Netherlands game, we really created urgency and momentum by playing really well and to our strengths.
"You could see the togetherness of our team. We knew today would be a different game because we knew we would have the ball a lot.
"We wanted to do well on the ball and for the most part of the game we did that. Where has our momentum come from? We are in a good place and are really happy.
"At the same time, we know Sweden will be a totally different game than it was tonight."
Events at the St. Jakob-Park were dictating who England would play in the next round, with Netherlands leading France 2-1 heading into the half-time interval.
At that point, the Lionesses were on course for a quarter-final clash with Germany, the side it beat in the final of the same competition three years ago.
But Laurent Bonadei's side turned on the style in the second half, with two goals from Delphine Cascarino helping France to a 5-2 victory and sealing top spot.
However, Wiegman insisted she was not paying any attention to the possible permutations.
"I think in tournaments it's really tricky to think 'oh, we want to go that way because then we might have this and this,'" Wiegman added.
"If you start thinking like that, then it's very tricky. What you're trying to do is win every game and then see where you finish in the group.
"Then you will play who is in front of you and that's what it is.
"If you want to be successful in the tournament, you should be able to win every single game. So that's how we approach it."
