Form, journey to the semi-finals
The England women's team is the reigning EURO champion. However, in this year's tournament, they played quite erratically. In the group stage, the England women's team lost 1-2 to France in the opening match. They then won 2 victories against the Netherlands and Wales women's teams to enter the quarter-finals.
In this round, the England women's team was led 0-2 by the Swedish women's team. But then they equalized 2-2, before beating the Nordic team 3-2 after a penalty shootout.
This is the 6th consecutive time that the England women's team has participated in the semi-finals of a major tournament (EURO and World Cup). They are rated much higher than the Italian women's team - the team currently ranked 13th in the world.
The Italian women's team ranked 2nd in the group stage, when they lost 1-3, they lost 1-3 to Spain, beat Belgium 1-0 and drew 1-1 with Portugal. In the quarter-finals, Italy beat Norway 2-1 to reach the EURO semi-finals for the first time since 1997.
Speaking before the match, expected lineup
England are led by Sarina Wiegman, who won the 2017 women's EURO with the Netherlands women's team and the 2022 with England. She shared that at this year's tournament, she had thought about being eliminated by the England women's team 3 times.
Ahead of the semi-final, she shared: "We need to play better and be more balanced in the match against Italy. Let's see what we need in the semi-final. We will start planning for the match against Italy and hope the whole team can stay a little more calm.
Meanwhile, Italy are showing confidence after an impressive journey. Coach Andrea Soncin shared: "We understand the England team very well. They have experience, especially in big competitions, but they are not invincible. They have a quality squad, especially the attack.
We have great respect for them, for what they have shown over the years and what they are still showing for so many talented players. But at the same time, we are fully aware of what we are building, our identity and strengths. We want to continue to pursue this dream and pursue it to the end.
Head-to-head record, expected lineup
According to UEFA statistics, the England women's team has been unbeaten in the last five matches against Italy, all of which were friendly matches, with four wins. The last meeting between the two teams took place in February 2024 in Spain, when England beat Italy 5-1.
However, in 6 meetings in official tournaments, the Italian women's team has won five and drawn one. In the most recent official encounter, the Italian women's team defeated England 2-1 in the EURO women's group stage 2009. Italy also beat England 6-2 at EURO 1993 and 2-1 in the third-place match of EURO 1987, respectively.
Expected lineup:
Anh: Hampton, Bronze, Williamson, Carter, Greenwood, Toone, Walsh, Stanway, James, Russo, Hemp.
Italy: Giuliani, Oliviero, Salvai, Linari, Di Guglielmo, Giugliano; Cantore, Caruso, Severini, Bonansea, Girelli.
