England drawn in same group as Wales, France and the Netherlands for Euros

The draw for the women’s Euros has been made and England have a very tough group, which includes the previous two winners of the competition: Sarina Wiegman’s side and the Netherlands.

And the storylines don’t end there. Wiegman is of Dutch heritage so will be facing her home nation, where she won the European Championships in 2017, in addition to being the finalist in the 2019 World Cup.

Wiegman said: “The group is tough. But at the same time, these are the facts and we knew, with how the pots were, that it would be difficult anyway.

“The women’s game is developing so quickly so I don’t think there are easy things any more. We have seen in the Nations League we have two tough games and we just have to be ready. Straight away, you have to be at the top level when we go into the tournament and that makes us sharp.”

The Netherlands’ manager, Andries Jonker, said: “I think the winner of this group can win the whole tournament because that is the quality and the strength of the group. It is a lot easier when you compare our group to Group A. We have three top teams in Group D and no top team in Group A with all the respect to them.

“But our team is used to handling situations so it is the way it is. It is always special [facing Wiegman] because we’re friends. Normally with friends, you wish them the best but as sportspeople, we want to beat the other one. We both want to win. That means you have to hurt your friend. But we are both on the same page and the respect for each other won’t change.”