England’s Lionesses face new challenges and ‘noise’ in Euro 2025 title defense

England will look to eliminate the noise when it kicks off its campaign to retain the Women s European Championship crown The defending champions movement to Switzerland as one of the favorites at the -team tournament despite latest upheaval in the squad after winning last time and finishing runner-up to Spain in the World Cup Euro saw England triumph on home soil and secure the country s first senior title since the men s crew won the World Cup in And in a soccer-mad country that success has ratcheted up the hype around the Lionesses My experience is before a major tournament there s consistently noise England coach Sarina Wiegman commented So we expect noise until we go into the tournament and it apparently stays The difference is that now just the attention and the visibility of the women s competition has increased so much So it sounds like that s more noise but there s just more talk more journalists here we just have to deal with it and move on and focus on football The -year-old Wiegman who took charge of the Lionesses in September is bidding to make it a hat trick of European Championship titles as she steered the Netherlands to the trophy in However a chaotic week leading up to her Euro squad announcement saw several key experienced players pull out of selection for the tournament Star defender Millie Bright declared herself unavailable saying she was not ready mentally or physically while goalkeeper Mary Earps and midfielder Fran Kirby retired from international soccer All three were in England s title-winning club at Euro We can only control ourselves and how good we can be England captain Leah Williamson declared That noise it s there it is a factual thing and of discipline there will be times when it will weigh heavier than others but ultimately I think we re very much focused on this new task which has changed dramatically The two tournaments of the Euros are incomparable really in terms of what s out there and what s to come she added so I think it will be very exciting for us and we re excited for that new challenge as this new gang Bright had knee surgery but Earps surprise move came after she fell behind Chelsea s Hannah Hampton in the goalkeeping pecking order It leaves Hampton as the only capped shot-stopper in a relatively inexperienced squad The group includes players who lifted the trophy three years ago but there are also seven players heading into their first major tournament And Wiegman is hoping to have located a winning blend of experience and youth When I came in the squad was very experienced But I do think we have enough experience in the squad Wiegman declared There s about players who have played a major tournament Also with playing at such a high-level club you are experienced with having media around playing for big crowds So I don t think that s a complication I think the experience is enough the balance with very young with players that are coming in and playing the first tournament they are so eager too In the build-up to Euro the Lionesses had ups and downs in the Nations League where in their last three games they lost at Belgium - beat Portugal at home - and lost at Spain - So there is uncertainty surrounding the unit s title defense which begins with a Group D opener against France on July in Zurich England also plays the Netherlands which is Wiegman s home nation as well as tournament debutant Wales Before every tournament things are different Wiegman announced And to be honest before every tournament you have your doubts I think that s fully normal because if we all knew what was going to happen then it would be very boring too AP soccer https apnews com hub soccer Source