Reigning European Champion Cheap England Football Shirts have been drawn in the "group of death" with France, Sweden and Ireland as they bid to secure qualification for the 2025 European Championship.
"The draw will be difficult, but really exciting," England head coach Sarina Wiegman said. "Of course we all entered the draw knowing that Sweden, one of the top countries, would be in pot three because of their success in the Nations League in 2023, so with France, Sweden and Ireland in our group we are very competitive. It's exciting and now we just have to turn up and perform. It's really good for the fans and for football because it's so competitive.
England finished runners-up in the A-League after failing to secure a place in the Nations League's first knockout stage in December, when Spain won the tournament that determined the Euro 2025 qualifying groups. That meant Wiegman's team were guaranteed a group with either Spain, France, Germany or the Netherlands in the qualifying campaign.
They were given a match against Euro 2022 semi-finalists France, but then chose the two hardest teams in the three and four pots - Euro 2022 bronze medallists Sweden and Ireland, the only team to qualify for the World Cup.
"[Sweden] is a top country with top players, many of whom we know from the Women's Super League," Wiegman added. "The matches against the Republic of Ireland are really competitive. Both countries are obviously close to each other, so hopefully a lot of fans will have the chance to go and watch these games. England must finish in the top two to earn automatic qualification for the Swiss tournament.
If they finish third or fourth, they will qualify for the play-offs by playing one of the five section winners or the three best-ranked C teams in the league. will play against the two remaining second-placed teams and the four third-placed teams in the same league to reach the second round. If Cheap England Kids Football Shirts would make the play-offs and reach the second round of the play-offs, it would be seeded, and the seven winners at that stage would earn a place in the European Championship.
Scotland face Serbia, Slovakia and Israel, while Northern Ireland face Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Malta and Wales face Croatia, Ukraine and Kosovo, all in League B.
Also at stake are the teams' standings in the second-ever Nations League, which starts after the European Championship. If Cheap England Women's Football Shirts finish fourth in their qualifying group for the European Championship, they will be relegated to League B for the next Nations League campaign.
The 2025 Euros have already been hit by controversy in the Swiss news media, with the country's Federal Council reportedly cutting the tournament's budget from 15 million Swiss francs (£13.34 million) to four million Swiss francs. The stadium capacity of the tournament has also been criticised, with three of the eight stadiums under 20,000 and the final taking place in Basel's 38,512-capacity stadium, the largest available - a world away from the 87,192 fans who watched the 2022 final at Wembley.
