Lionesses Diary - Euro 2025 Day 2: Action underway as Bronze asserts authority

Now Euro 2025 is officially underway, with hosts Switzerland among the four teams to feature in the opening games, the countdown to the Lionesses’ first game is well and truly on.

The first training session is in the bag and Lucy Bronze has firmly staked her claim on updating the England squad’s tournament wall chart.

Here is everything you need to know from the Lionesses camp on day two of Euro 2025.

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Today in camp

We received the first glimpse of the gym the Lionesses are using to workout while out in Zurich.

It certainly impressed the squad as Georgia Stanway exclaimed, ‘It’s sick in here!’ on seeing the new facilities.

Elsewhere, England legend Bronze has been using her authority to ensure responsibilities for updating the wall chart lie firmly at her feet.

She said: “We’ve got an amazing board at the minute where we can fill out all the scores.

“Grace [Clinton] was like, ‘I can’t wait to fill this out,’ and I was like, ‘No, no, no, you’ve not been to a tournament that’s my job. That’s the one thing you need to give me.”

And if that job has always belonged to Bronze, it is a tradition that the Lionesses will not want to change with the serial winner having found success in an England shirt and beyond, having been a key part of the Euro 2022 winning and 2023 World Cup finalists squads.

Tributes to Diogo Jota

The whole footballing world was rocked by the devastating news that Liverpool’s Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva have died in a car crash and the camps at Euro 2025 are not immune.

There has been an outpouring of tributes to the Portuguese international from the Lionesses and beyond for a player who so often stood up in support of the women’s game.

Last year, Jota spoke alongside Liverpool Women’s Leanne Kiernan for International Women’s Day and honoured role models such as Marta and Serena Williams as figures he hopes his children could look up to.

The Lionesses wrote on social media: “We are devastated by the tragic loss of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. It is truly difficult to comprehend.

“We stand beside the Portuguese team here in Switzerland and the whole football family in honouring Diogo and Andre’s memory.”

On Thursday, Portugal and Spain will observe a minute’s silence and wear black armbands to honour Jota and Silva.

What are the pundits saying?

As England’s opener against France on Saturday 5th July inches ever closer, Sarina Wiegman will be fine-tuning her tactical plan.

For former Lioness Izzy Christiansen, that plan must look completely different for each of England’s three group stage fixtures.

“All three opponents have distinct styles that pose different tactical questions, and England will need different solutions to beat each of them,” she told The Times.

“France’s game against England, which is both teams’ Euros opener, will be fascinating. France will attack directly and quickly, while England’s style is steadier.

“Speed is a problem for Wiegman. Analysts across Europe will be targeting England’s lack of pace at the back, and France have the attackers to exploit this weakness.”

Quote of the day

“I’m very fortunate that this is my seventh [major tournament], I know many people don’t even get the opportunity to go to one.

“[I know] these are my final few tournaments and I’m just taking them all in again and not taking any moment for granted.

“You don’t realise until it’s gone that that moment happened.” - Lucy Bronze on the Lionesses’ Diary Room.

Best of the rest

As hosts Switzerland got their first taste of a major tournament in front of their home crowd, the supporters came out in force.

While the Swiss lost 2-1 to Norway in their opening game of Group A, making them the first-ever host to lose their opening Euros match, that certainly did not dampen the spirit of their fans.

A sea of red congregated prior to the match in Basel in fine voice before piling into the stadium to offer rousing support.

That extended across the country, too, with fan parks in Zurich breaking out into spontaneous renditions of the Swiss national anthem as pride for the national team overflowed.

When asked how it felt to experience a home tournament, fans were often reduced to tears in their attempts to express what it meant to see such support for women’s football in their own country.

With ample time to make good on their opening defeat, Swiss are certainly making sure this is a tournament to remember.