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ST. GALLEN, Switzerland: France produced a dominant display to thrash Wales 4-1 and go top of Group D at Euro 2025 on Wednesday, outclassing their opponents who scored their first goal at a major championship.
After England beat the Netherlands 4-0 earlier in the day, France went top of the group on six points, followed by the English and the Dutch on three points each.
Wales, who face England in their final group game on Sunday, have yet to register a point but still have a mathematical chance of going through to the knockouts. France face the Netherlands in their last group game.
Clara Mateo was at the center of much of France’s attacking play and lashed them into an early lead, controlling a flick-on from a corner on her chest and firing a volley into the net in the eighth minute.
The moment thousands of Wales fans had been waiting for came five minutes later when Ceri Holland broke down the left and though her first attempt to find Jess Fishlock was blocked, she managed to steer the ball to the 38-year-old, who poked home Wales’ maiden goal at the women’s European Championship finals.
That was as good as it got for Wales, who looked set to go into the break level only for Holland to chop down Mateo in the box and Kadidiatou Diani’s spot kick crept over the line after striking the foot of keeper Safia Middleton-Patel.
Middleton-Patel was at fault just after the break as she lost control of the ball in the box, allowing Mateo to tee up Amel Majri, who thumped it into the net.
After that the Welsh wilted as the French dominated, with Grace Geyoro scoring their fourth in the 63rd minute, steering home a ball from the right following an extended period of possession to crown a convincing win.
“We’ve got six points after two matches and that’s what we need to remember. It won’t be an easy (next) game because the Netherlands will have no choice but to attack and score goals,” France coach Laurent Bonadei said.
Mateo was impressed with how her side bounced back from Fishlock’s equalising goal and how they went on to dominate.
“We had a bit of a scare at the start of the game but we had confidence in ourselves. It was a great evening, there are different strikers and that’s important for everyone’s confidence,” she said.

LONDON: Iga Swiatek reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 19th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova that went from a stroll to a bit of a struggle in the late stages Wednesday.

“Even though I’m in the middle of the tournament, I already got goosebumps after this win,” said Swiatek, who will face unseeded Belinda Bencic on Thursday for a spot in the final. “I’m super happy and super proud of myself.”

Bencic beat No. 7 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2019 US Open. The other semifinal is No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 13 Amanda Anisimova; they advanced with wins Tuesday.

Swiatek is a five-time major champion, with four of those titles on the red clay of the French Open, and the other on the hard courts of the US Open. She’s also twice been a semifinalist at the hard-court Australian Open.

The grass courts of the All England Club always had given her the most trouble as a pro, even though she did claim a junior championship there in 2018. In her five appearances in the Wimbledon women’s bracket before this year, she had made it as far as the quarterfinals just once, exiting in that round in 2023.

But the 24-year-old from Poland is enjoying a career-best run on the slick surface, thanks in part to being more comfortable with the footing required.

“I, for sure, feel like I really worked hard to progress here on this surface,” Swiatek said. “So this year, I feel like I can just work with it and work with myself. I’ll just keep doing that.”

Before the start of Wimbledon, Swiatek was the runner-up in Bad Homburg, Germany, her first final at a tournament played on grass — and her first final at any event in more than a year, a drought that resulted in her falling from the No. 1 ranking and being seeded No. 8 at the All England Club.

Her rough stretch included a one-month ban last season in a doping case after an investigation determined a failed out-of-competition drug test was caused by an unintentional contamination of non-prescription medication for issues with jet lag and sleeping. On the court, a semifinal loss to Sabalenka at Roland-Garros last month ended Swiatek’s 26-match French Open winning streak.

Swiatek led by a set and 3-0 in the second against Samsonova, who was appearing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Soon, though, it was 4-all, then 5-all. But Swiatek held for a 6-5 lead, then broke to end it, and a smile spread across her face.

“I’ll just recover today, try not to celebrate too much, but already focus on the next one,” Swiatek said. “Prepare in the evening, and I’ll be ready tomorrow.”

Bencic, who at 28 is a decade older than Andreeva, is competing in her second major tournament since returning to the tour after giving birth to a daughter, Bella, in April 2024.

“I’m very proud, actually. All my career, I didn’t say it a lot to myself, but after having Bella, I really say it to myself every day,” Bencic said. “We are just enjoying life on tour with Bella, traveling. It’s been beautiful to create these memories together.”

 “ And obviously, to play great is so amazing, but for me, it’s a bonus. I’m generally just really happy to be able to play again.”