England star points to 'disrespect' for Lionesses opponents after massive Euros win

Leah Williamson feels England’s Euro 2025 quarter-final opponents Sweden have been disrespected by being left out of conversations about the tournament's biggest threats. Peter Gerhardsson’s team won all three of their group matches, including a statement-making 4-1 victory over Germany on Saturday, but the likes of Spain, France and England dominated most of the talk about potential champions in Switzerland.

Reigning Euros champions England will face the Swedes in the quarters on Thursday in what could be an explosive tie, with the two teams scoring 19 goals between them in the group stages. England booked their place in the last eight with a 6-1 win over Wales on Sunday, but Williamson isn’t getting carried away.

“Sweden are a fantastic team, they’re relentless in the way they go about their game,” the Lionesses captain said. “I think they sort of avoid the expectation of every tournament, and nobody really talks about them, [which is] slightly disrespectful…

“Because they always show up and they always seem to pose a threat to most teams, and normally come out with a medal or [be] a semi-final team so, yes, they’re a strong team. We’re looking forward to the fixture.”

England scored four unanswered first-half goals against Wales in St Gallen, allowing manager Sarina Wiegman to make changes in the second period. Substitutes Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones combined for two further goals, but there was still some frustration for Williamson after Hannah Cain’s fine strike got Wales on the scoreboard.

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“I know that, as a forward player, you take a lot of confidence in those things and that’s good,” Williamson said when asked about England’s 10 goals in their last two games. I’d have liked a clean sheet tonight but, you know, we move on. It’s been a great display of our attacking football and obviously that’s how you win games.”

Williamson’s club team-mate Stina Blackstenius has been among the goals for Sweden, netting in wins against Poland and Germany, and the Arsenal pair will have the chance to put their knowledge of one another to the test. “Yes, I suppose [I know her well], but she knows me just as well so I think we’ll nullify each other’s threats there,” Williamson added.

Mead is another of the England contingent who is used to sharing a pitch with Blackstenius, and she reflected on her own team’s strength in front of goal as England rebounded in style from their opening defeat against France. “It doesn't seem like it at the time, but it was probably was the best thing that could have happened to us as a team. I think it motivated us,” she said.

“We had conversations, we figured things out that we maybe needed to. You don’t win or lose a tournament in the first game. It's cliche to say it, but you don't and we're now in a position where we're building quite nicely and hopefully we can continue that momentum now we're into the quarter finals.”

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