England’s Lucy Bronze has iterated that Sweden and England have both “moved on” since their UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 showdown.
England thrashed Sweden 4-0 at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, in the semi-finals on hone soil at UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 en-route to the title, but the pair are now set to collide in the Quarter-Finals of the 2025 edition tomorrow (17 July).
The pair however met in the Qualifying phase for this tournament which finished 1-1 in London, before England snatched automatic qualification with a goalless draw in Gothenburg which left the Swedes to qualify via the play-offs.
Reflecting on the progress of both teams since the semi-final meeting in 2022 which she considered to be “a very nice memory”, Bronze iterated that both teams had progressed in different ways and moved on from that blockbuster.
“The team we played against in Sheffield in the EUROs, both for Sweden and for England, are very different and have moved on a lot.”
Bronze also spoke of how she doesn’t plan to change her style of play for this Quarter-Final tie despite facing a Swedish team who topped Group C unbeaten and came from behind to beat Germany, but wary of Sweden’s threats out wide.
“I like to attack and I also like to defend. I can do whatever role is asked of me, whether that’s from Sarina or the players around me. We know the threat that Sweden has and that’s a lot in wide positions but at the same time, we’re a top team.
“You don’t want to change too much because we want to give to the game what we’re good at. We’re very much focused on our strengths and what we can bring to the game.”
The last two UEFA Women’s Euro have been won by the host nation – Netherlands in 2017 followed by England in 2022 and Bronze is aware of the pressure that await Switzerland to follow suit despite meeting title-favourites, Spain in their Quarter-Final on 18 July
“I guess every single player that puts on a shirt in this tournament probably feels that. I can imagine the Swiss team feel that because they’re the home nation. Every other team wants to replicate what England did and what the Netherlands did before us and really boost women’s football.”
The 33-year-old right-back acknowledged that success comes from winning major tournaments and is keen to see countries use success to thrive and develop the sport like England has done whenever they go deep in major tournaments.
“We know that success comes from that. We know that we’re fortunate with England that when we have success, it really does explode. It’s what we want all over Europe and all over the world.”
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