England v Sweden: Women’s Euro 2025 qualifier – live

As I mentioned in the preamble, England are not getting ahead of themselves. That said, Lucy Bronze reckons winning back to back European Championships would be a “next-level” achievement:

How does qualifying for Women’s Euro 2025 work?

Simply put, if your group starts with an “A”, then the top two places guarantee qualification. But if you’re one of the lucky ones in the four “A” groups, then even finishing third or fourth will pitch you into the playoffs.

In the “B” and “C” groups, there are no automatic spots, only playoff spots up for grabs. You can get into the nitty-gritty of how the playoffs work on the Uefa website if you wish – which I particularly recommend if you’re struggling to sleep.

Grace Clinton of Tottenham impressed when making her debut during England’s camp in February. And here she is, starting at Wembley.

She was born in Liverpool in 2003 and her career started at Everton – now she’s at Spurs via Manchester United.

The captain, Leah Williamson, returns on the bench for England after a year-long absence due to an ACL injury. Grace Clinton starts.

England (4-3-3): Earps; Bronze, Wubben-Moy, Greenwood, Charles; Stanway, Walsh (capt.). Clinton; Hemp, Russo, James. Substitutes: Carter, Hampton, Toone, Williamson, Kelly, Mead, Kirby, Daly, Park, Rendell, Morgan, Turner.

Sweden (4-3-3): Falk; Lundkvist, Sembrant, Eriksson, Andersson; Angeldahl, Asllani (capt.), Olme; Kaneyrd, Blackstenius, Rolfo. Substitutes: Musovic, Enblom, Nilden, Janogy, Vinberg, Jakobsson, Kullberg, Kafaji, Anvegard, Bennison, Rybrink, Rubensson.

The good thing about losing in sport is there’s usually a chance to make up for it. Does it follow that the bad thing about winning is, annoyingly, there’s always something else to win?

Doubtless that is not the mentality of Sarina Wiegman’s Euro 2022 champions, who narrowly lost a World Cup final against Spain last summer and now turn their attentions to the defence of their European crown.

This evening’s opening Group A3 qualifier against Sweden begins a journey that will potentially end in Basel on 27 July next year, but Wiegman’s players will not be getting ahead of themselves. They are grouped with France and the Republic of Ireland along with the Swedes, with qualification far from a foregone conclusion, so the imminent return of the captain Leah Williamson is a welcome boost.

Could England do it all again? They will need to take one step at a time, and qualify first, beginning with Sweden. Kick-off: 8pm BST