England facing tricky Women’s Euros test with France and the Netherlands among their group stage rivals along with Wales

ENGLAND are set for a Battle of Britain clash with Wales at next year’s Women’s Euros, with both drawn in the same group for the contest.

The defending champions will face a serious challenge for a knockout stage spot with France and 2017 winners the Netherlands among their rivals.

Reuters

England boss Sarina Wiegman is set for a Euros group stage reunion with the Netherlands, whom she led to glory in the contest in 2017[/caption]

Getty

Wiegman’s Lionesses will play France, the Netherlands and Wales when they begin the quest to retain their Euros crown[/caption]

AP

Wiegman and her Lionesses will take on France on July 5 in their opening game at the tournament next year[/caption]

The draw earlier held today in Switzerland, where the tournament will be held next summer, saw England named in Group D alongside contest debutants Wales.

Their Welsh opponents sealed qualification via a dramatic play-off defeat of the Republic of Ireland earlier this month.

A  3-2 aggregate victory led to them making history by reaching a major women’s football tournament for the first time.

Wiegman’s England stars, who won the contest two years ago, will begin their push for back-to-back Euros wins by battling on France on July 5.

Meanwhile underdogs Wales will face the Netherlands, who won the 2017 tournament under Wiegman four years before the start of her Lionesses reign.

And the home nations’ rivals will face off in the final round of Group D fixtures on Sunday July 13 in St Gallen.

Yesterday’s draw was preceded by major announcements concerning the contest’s prize pot and balls specially designed to improve VAR use.

Prize money for next summer’s tournament has more than doubled for the tournament, with the total now standing at £34m – a 156% increase from Euro 2022.

Wiegman’s holders will see matches played with chip in ball technology to speed up VAR offside calls.

Uefa confirmed it had worked with ball provider Adidas to unveil the most up to date ball product for the Euros.

The “KONEKTIS” ball – similar to the one used at last summer’s men’s Euros and by Fifa at the recent World Cups – sends ball data to video officials in real time.

Uefa say this can help them determine when the last touch was by an attacking player in tight offside decisions.

And with limb-tracking cameras also in operation, VARs are able to come to quicker decisions on potential handball and penalty claims.

Should England top their group they could be on course for a difficult path to reach the final.

Alamy

The Lionesses could potentially face Spain in the Euros semi-finals should they progress to the contest’s last eight stage next summer[/caption]

If they finish first, a quarter-final duel with Sweden, or eight-time contest winners Germany could await them on Saturday 19 July. 

And a mammoth last four clash with Spain could be on the cards, if the latter claims first spot in Group B.

The last time the two sides went toe-to-toe was in last year’s World Cup final in Australia with Spain the victors after a 1-0 win.