England 1-2 France: Elisa De Almeida and Marie-Antoinette Katoto strike to hurt Lionesses’ hopes of qualifying for Euro 2025 after Beth Mead opened the scoring and Mary Earps went off injured within eight minutes

England used to enjoy playing in front of their own crowd under Sarina Wiegman, but it is starting to look like that magic has worn off.

The defeat to France, their first defeat in a qualifying match in 22 years, leaves them with work to do if they want to retain their European crown in Switzerland next year.

Only the top two teams will automatically progress from the tough qualifying group for Euro 2025, with England now in third place.

They now have to travel to France, who they play again on Tuesday, before taking on Ireland at home and away from Sweden in July.

Perhaps the most worrying thing for Wiegman is that her team has only taken one point from their two home games.

Marie-Antoinette Katoto scored the winner for France with just over 20 minutes to go

England goalkeeper Mary Earps was knocked out early in Newcastle with a nasty injury

They had their moments against France, but too many players were sloppy in possession and the two goals they conceded came from poorly defended set pieces.

The Lionesses lacked the spark and in reality many looked tired after a testing season. Elisa De Almeida’s superb volley, which brought France level after Beth Mead had opened the scoring, was undoubtedly the best moment of a match lacking in quality.

“The result is really disappointing and, in my opinion, unnecessary,” Wiegman said.

“I think our performance was good for most parts of the match. The first part was of course very different [what] we were expecting, so we had to find our feet to get started. Then we did well, we scored a goal, I think we had chances to score more, and then they scored from a corner. That was disappointing.

‘I think we had more control of the game in the second half than in the first half. But we didn’t score, we almost created chances, so it’s that pass that creates the best chance, or the touch, or the cross. We played quite well at many times, but it is very frustrating when we concede a goal from a corner [set-piece]we know they’re really good at that, so we really wanted to do that [defend set pieces] very well, and at times we did, but at too many times we didn’t.’

For the first time since February 2023, Wiegman was able to select a centre-back consisting of Leah Williamson and Millie Bright, with both players having spent the past year out injured.

But the decision not to select Alex Greenwood, who has had a fine season at Manchester City, as a centre-half or left-back was puzzling.

Greenwood was arguably England’s best player at the World Cup last summer and her composure on the ball and passing skills were missed.

Beth Mead scored England’s opener with a side-footed finish into the bottom right corner

Defender Elisa De Almeida scored a stunning side-foot volley for France’s equalizer in the first half

Things started badly for England when Mary Earps was forced off after just five minutes.

The goalkeeper, making her 50th international appearance, appeared to twist her hip after a routine pass and was replaced by Hannah Hampton despite attempts to continue.

After a cagey opening, Ella Toone could have given England the lead midway through the half when she connected with Lauren Hemp’s cross in the penalty area, but her effort went just wide.

Hemp continued to cause problems along the left wing and scored the opener after half an hour. The striker’s cross eluded Alessia Russo and Georgia Stanway, who may have been fouled by Selma Bacha as she tried to connect with the delivery, but the ball fell to Mead and she sent a side-footed finish into the bottom right corner.

France hit back almost immediately, but Hampton was there to push Maelle Lakrar’s header around the post. But Les Bleus found a way out before half time, with Elisa De Almeida sending a fantastic side-footed volley into the top left corner. There was a question mark over whether Wendie Renard had fouled Hemp in the build-up, but with no VAR in use the goal stood.

There were limited chances in the second half until Katoto put France ahead in the 68th minute. The goal came from another set-piece when England failed to clear the lines, with Katoto sending a smart finish into the bottom right corner.