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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Simon Collings

Euro 2025: England to face France in qualifier at St. James' Park as Lionesses play first match in Newcastle

The Lionesses will play at St. James’ Park for the first time ever as part of their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign.

England will host France in Newcastle on May 31, with the Lionesses’ other home games taking place at Wembley and Carrow Road.

Sarina Wiegman’s side have been handed a tough qualifying group as they bid to reach next year’s tournament in Switzerland, where they would be defending their crown.

As well as France, the Lionesses have been drawn alongside Sweden and the Republic of Ireland - with only the top two from Group A3 guaranteed a place at Euro 2025.

England will begin their qualifying campaign by welcoming World Cup semi-finalists Sweden to Wembley on April 5.

That is followed by a trip to Dublin on April, where Wiegman’s side will take on the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.

The Lionesses are the defending European champions (The FA via Getty Images)

The Lionesses will then play at St. James’ Park, the home of Newcastle United, for the first time as they face France there on May 31, before four days later travelling to Saint-Etienne for the return fixture.

The game at St. James’ is part of a double-header in the north-east, with England men playing Bosnia & Herzegovina on Monday 3 June.

The Lionesses will finish their qualifying campaign with a game against the Republic of Ireland at Carrow Road on July 12 and a trip to Sweden four days later.

Wiegman said: “Wembley holds such special memories and I am delighted we can begin our EURO qualifiers in our home against Sweden.

“In all, it’s going to be an exciting qualification campaign against three top opponents. I’m sure the fans are looking forward to the games and it’s really nice that we’re playing our three home games in really special venues in different parts of England.

“Wherever we play in the country we have such fantastic support and I’m sure these games in London, Newcastle and Norwich will be no different. We will need to show up and perform but there’s no doubt the fans can help us.”

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