The Lionesses went into their final group game needing a win to qualify for the knockout rounds, having lost to France in their opener before beating Netherlands last time out 4-0.

England had six different goal scorers against Wales, with Georgia Stanway winning a penalty after a video assistant referee (VAR) review and then opening the scoring from the spot just 13 minutes in, with Ella Toone netting the second eight minutes later.

Toone then turned provider for the other two goals of the first half, setting up Lauren Hemp for a back-post header before assisting Alessia Russo on the stroke of half-time.

England piled on more goals in the second half, with Mead slottiing home a fifth 72 minutes in.

Wales netted a consolation four minutes later through substitute Hannah Cain, but Aggie Beever-Jones, who had teed up Mead, scored her first goal at a major tournament as she finished off the rout in the final minute.

England secured second spot in Group D behind France, which came back from 2-1 down to thump Netherlands 5-2 and maintain its 100 per cent record in the group stage.

Wales finished bottom of the group having lost all three of its matches at the tournament, with Netherlands missing out, having lost its final two.

Toone was delighted with England's performance and believes the defending champion what it takes to beat Sweden in the quater-finals, having beaten it in the semi-finals at UEFA Women's Euro 2022 en route to winning the trophy.

"We were really good," Toone said. "It's always difficult to play against a team that sits in a low block; there isn't a lot of space for us, but I think we tired them out.

"It was nice that we got early goals in the first half.

"We watched Sweden the other night. They looked really good [against Germany in a 4-1 win], a really good counter-attacking team. But we're feeling confident, they should be scared."

England has now progressed from the group stage in its past six major tournaments, making it one of only three European nations to have done so since the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, along with Sweden and France.

Coach Sarina Wiegman now has the most wins by any manager at the UEFA Women's Euros, with this her 14th victory in the competition, and she has now overtaked Christina Theune-Meyer, who won 13.

Wiegman noted that while it was tough to lose the opener to France, she believes it has bolstered England for the rest of the tournament.

"We scored six goals, and a big part of the game we dominated, a very good game. Playing well is the most important; who scores is not that important, but I'm pleased Alessia got one," she said.

"I'm very happy. We knew ahead of this tournament how hard this group was going to be, then when you lose the first game, there is massive urgency to win the other two.

"It gave a lot of learnings with the team, and it brought us together – I think that's pretty good."