Wales to face defending champions England in Euro 2025 group stage

Wales will face defending champions England in the Euro 2025 group stage as they make their debut at the finals of a major tournament, following the play-off victory over the Republic of Ireland earlier this month.

Wales will be the lowest-ranked team in Switzerland next summer at 30, some 26 places behind their neighbours, but will relish the opportunity to try to bloody the nose of the 2022 winners.

Netherlands

Rhian Wilkinson’s side will also face the Netherlands in Group D, as well as Pot 1 seeds France, who topped England’s qualification group by a point after beating them 2-1 at St James’ Park in May before losing the return in Saint-Etienne by the same score.

There will also be an emotional reunion for Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman with the Dutch, who she led to European glory in 2017 before repeating the feat with the Lionesses five years later, becoming the first coach to do so.

Spain

World Cup winners Spain were drawn into Group B with Italy, Portugal and Belgium, and 2022 runners-up Germany will face Sweden, Denmark and debutants Poland in Group C.

Hosts Switzerland will battle it out with Group A rivals Iceland, Norway and Finland for a place in the knockout stages.

The tournament will be played at eight venues – Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, St Gallen, Lucerne, Sion and Thun – between July 2 and 27.

Meanwhile, UEFA has confirmed a huge rise in total prize money for the tournament to 41million euros, almost £34million.

Prize money

A statement read: “The UEFA Executive Committee approved €41 million in prize money for UEFA Women’s EURO 2025, representing a 156 per cent increase on the figure from 2022.

“Participating national associations will now also distribute a guaranteed percentage of the rewards – between 30 per cent and 40 per cent – to their players for the first time.”