France took a giant step towards the 2025 Women’s European Championship quarter-finals with a dominant 4-1 victory over Wales, who are on the brink of elimination despite a spirited performance.
After beating defending champions England on matchday one, a confident French side required just eight minutes to shatter the deadlock through Clara Mateo.
The Paris FC forward neatly controlled a flicked-on corner before rifling a volley past goalkeeper Safia Middleton-Patel.
To Wales’ credit, they produced a near-instant response with an unforgettable moment in Welsh football history.
After initially being dispossessed, Ceri Holland kept the ball alive for Wales' all-time record goalscorer, Jess Fishlock, to tap home her country’s first-ever goal at a women’s major tournament, which sparked two bouts of celebration after the strike was initially ruled out for offside before VAR intervened.
The decided Dragons looked set to claw their way through to the interval, only for the referee to point to the spot following Holland’s rash challenge on Mateo.
Middleton-Patel moved agonisingly close to thwarting Kadidiatou Diani’s penalty with her foot, but her efforts were ultimately to no avail as Wales conceded just before half-time for the second game in a row.
Unfortunately for the tournament debutants, their hopes of salvaging a positive result were managed a major strike when they gifted France a third goal following the restart.
Middleton-Patel took far too long to clear her lines, allowing Mateo to steal possession and tee up Amel Majri to curl into the far bottom corner.
With Wales’ resolve broken, the gulf in quality between the two sides started to become very apparent, as Grace Geyoro submitted the finishing touches to Diani’s low cross to add a fourth with just under half an hour to play in St.
Gallen.
Key match statsBetopickLaurent Bonadei’s charges threatened to add to their tally in the remainder of the contest, with Middleton-Patel compelled to make strong saves from Mateo and Sakina Karchaoui.
France ultimately settled for a win by a three-goal margin, sending them three points clear of England and the Netherlands, while Wales are left pointless and requiring the miracle of all miracles to progress.
Betopick Player of the Match: Clara Mateo (France)Catch up on the match here.
