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Wiegman gets it right when England need it most

Sarina Wiegman is a manager that knows how to win.

Twice the Dutchwoman has guided a nation to a European title followed by a World Cup final, first with the Netherlands and again with England.

At EURO 2025, she is facing perhaps her toughest test as an international head coach, which is attempting to successfully defend a title. An opening 2-1 defeat by France, in quite damming fashion, left the Lionesses with plenty to ponder going into their last two group fixtures.

Something had to give – a change of personnel, or a change of tactics. In the end, it was a mix of both, which put England back on the path to defending their title.

The first minor shift came in defence, addressing the issue of being overloaded by lightning-quick French wingers. Jess Carter, who started at left-back, and Alex Greenwood, who started at centre-back, were both switched for the game against the Netherlands.

As far as Carter goes, it allowed her to operate in a position far more comfortable to her, having played there regularly for her current club, NJ/NY Gotham. Greenwood plays centrally for Manchester City, but it’s a move that is more recent for the 31-year-old, who has spent much of her career playing on the left-hand side.

The result? A far more composed performance at the back, with England avoiding getting caught out. More importantly, a clean sheet in a thumping 4-0 win.

Wiegman’s second change came further up the pitch, bringing Toone in place of Mead.

This meant moving Lauren James out wide, and while the thrilling forward can play a number of positions, it seems as though the switch allowed the Lionesses to get the best out of their star player. Toone is a natural No.10, used to operating in those pockets of space the ties together the attack. It also allows for a more fluid approach, which the defending champions benefited from in their 6-1 drilling of Wales.

Their front four of Hemp, Russo, James and Toone were intertwining throughout the first half, covering each other’s positions and dragging the Welsh defence out of shape. A 4-0 half-time lead was the effect of such an approach, an utterly relentless display from a side with a point to prove.

This system and these tactics may not work for every team they face; it’s something that is likely to evolve as the tournament goes on.

Weigman has shown she can be adaptable, and she can get the best out of her side when the moment calls for it – this alone is vital when it comes to knockout football.

LA PALMA (Spain) – Spain’s Sara Okeke captured the Most Valuable Player award of the FIBA U18 Women’s EuroBasket 2025 after leading the hosts to their sixth title triumph.

Okeke headlines a star-studded All-Star Five of future stars that made their mark on an unforgettable competition. Prodigies such as Finland’s Anna Gardziella, France’s Anna Tournebize, Belgium’s Jada Lynch, with Spain’s Gina Garcia completed the lineup.

MVP: Sara Okeke (Spain)

An unbeaten tournament and a first U18 Women’s EuroBasket trophy in 10 years on home soil was the perfect ending for Spain, and Okeke was a star throughout, winning MVP honors. The Movistar Estudiantes center averaged 13.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, shooting 57 percent from the floor, which was capped off with a 23-point, 7-rebound and 3-steal showpiece against Finland in the Final. A performance worthy of an MVP honor.

Anna Gardziella (Finland)

Gardziella led Finland to their best finish at the U18 level and their first Final. Gardziella averaged 11.8 points, 4 rebounds and 1 steal shooting 34 percent from three-point land with a tournament best of 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in the opener against Slovenia.

Alicia Tournebize (France)

Tournebize led France to third place in the FIBA U18 Women’s EuroBasket through her unstoppable presence inside and athleticism, which was showcased with a two-handed dunk in the Third Place Game against Belgium, which the French won 72-47, with the 17 year old going for 19 points and 12 rebounds. Tournebize averaged 11.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, with an efficiency rating of 17.4 – all team-highs.

Jada Lynch (Belgium)

It wasn’t meant to be for Lynch in the Third Place Game against France, as she was unable to register a field goal in seven attempts. However, she earned her spot in the All-Star Five as one of Belgium’s leading offensive juggernauts, averaging 12 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals a game. She filled the statsheet, but sadly, her side couldn’t finish on the podium.

Gina Garcia (Spain)

Garcia pulled the strings for the victorious Spain side in front of their home audience. The point guard led her side to the Final thanks to a sublime all-around performance in the Semi-Final win over France with 15 points, 9 assists, and 5 steals, and followed that with a 13-point, 12-assist double-double against Finland in the Final. Garcia posted 7.6 points and 5.6 assists in the competition.

FIBA

An electrifying second-half performance from Delphine Cascarino helped France to a 5-2 win over the Netherlands on Sunday that secured victory in Group D at the Women’s Euros and set up a quarterfinal meeting with Germany in Basel on July 19.

France finished the group with nine points from their three games, three ahead of England, who join them in the knockout stage for a quarter-final meeting with Sweden in Zurich on July 17 following a 6-1 win over Wales.

The French took the lead through Sandie Toletti in the 22nd minute, but a Victoria Pelova strike and an own goal by Selma Bacha saw the Dutch take a 2-1 lead into the break.

Cascarino burst into life in the second half, setting up Marie-Antoinette Katoto for the equaliser and then scoring two goals in quick succession, with Sakina Karchaoui scoring a late penalty to secure the 5-2 win.

The journey to Japan is intensifying for athletes around the world, with just two months to go to the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.

While many of the sport’s stars will be looking to secure their spots for the global showpiece when they compete at their national championships next month, here we highlight some of the athletes who could light up the Japan National Stadium from 13-21 September.

Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew made her major international debut as a 17-year-old at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon in 2022. Since then, the now 20-year-old steeplechase specialist has become a world U20 champion and an Olympic finalist, and those achievements contributed to her being named Women’s Rising Star at the World Athletics Awards 2024 in Monaco in December. She dipped under nine minutes for the first time in Eugene earlier this month, that 8:59.90 performance placing her 15th on the world all-time list. She has also secured two third-place finishes in the Wanda Diamond League this season, in Doha and Paris.

As well as being a double Olympic champion in the 5000m and 10,000m, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet is a world record-holder on both the roads and on the track. She set a world 10,000m record in Eugene in May last year and went on to set her second world 5km record in Barcelona in December and a world 5000m record in Eugene earlier this month. After claiming world 5000m silver in Oregon and bronze in Budapest, the 25-year-old will be looking to complete the medal set with at least one gold in Tokyo.

Neeraj Chopra likes to make history on the global stage. At the Tokyo Games, he became the first Indian athlete to gain an Olympic gold in athletics when he won the javelin. Then, in Budapest, he became the first athlete from his nation to strike gold in any event at the World Athletics Championships as well as the first Asian athlete to win gold in the men’s javelin. The 27-year-old has already improved his national record to 90.23m this season, surpassing 90 metres for the first time during the Diamond League meeting in Doha.

Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos is the third-fastest 400m hurdler in history. With his South American record of 46.29, the 25-year-old sits behind only world record-holder Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin on the world all-time list. Dos Santos beat them both to the 2022 world title in Oregon, scene of that 46.29 area record – becoming the first South American to win a medal in the men’s 400m hurdles at the World Championships. He currently sits second on the season top list with the 46.65 he clocked to win at the Eugene Diamond League.

Alison dos Santos wins the 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (© Getty Images)

Swedish pole vault superstar Mondo Duplantis has broken the world pole vault record 12 times during his career so far. His first world record of 6.17m was set in Torun in 2020 and he has since improved it to 6.28m – that most recent record achieved at his home Diamond League meeting in Stockholm. The 25-year-old has multiple global titles to go with his records – world titles claimed in 2022 and 2023 as well as Olympic gold medals gained in Tokyo and Paris, and three world indoor honours from 2022, 2024 and 2025.

Jamaican sprint star Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will want to put on a show in what she has said will be her final World Championships before retirement. The 10-time World Championships gold medallist made her senior international debut at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka and has described going back to Japan as “a full circle moment”. The 38-year-old has a total of 16 World Championships medals to her name as well as one world indoor title and eight Olympic medals. She secured her spot for Tokyo by finishing third in the 100m at the Jamaican Championships last month.

Italy’s Mattia Furlani has rapidly risen through the ranks, following his European U18 title wins in the high jump and long jump in 2022 with European U20 long jump gold in 2023 and senior European silver in 2024. On the global stage, the 20-year-old is already an Olympic bronze medallist and a two-time world indoor medallist – most recently soaring to world indoor gold in Nanjing. His achievements in 2024 led to him being named Men’s Rising Star at the World Athletics Awards and so far in 2025 he has leapt 8.37m – putting his second on the year’s top list.

Prodigious Australian sprinter Gout Gout secured his first win in a senior international race in Ostrava last month and will want to maintain the momentum as he works towards Tokyo. The now 17-year-old clocked 20.04 in December to break the long-standing Oceanian 200m record and improve Usain Bolt’s world age-16 best. He improved to 20.02 in Ostrava and also has a wind-assisted 19.84 (2.2m/s) to his name, achieved when winning the Australian title in April. His CV already includes a major medal, as he secured 200m silver at the World U20 Championships in Lima last year.

Gout Gout at the World U20 Championships in Lima (© World Athletics Enzo Santos Barreiro)

Haruka Kitaguchi will be one of the home favourites going for gold inside the Japan National Stadium in September. After clinching javelin bronze at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, the now 27-year-old threw 66.73m to get gold the following year in Budapest – a mark which remains the third-best winning performance of her career behind the 67.38m national record she set in Brussels in 2023. She went on to win Olympic gold in Paris and has a best of 64.63m so far this season – that throw getting her the win at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo.

South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso stormed into the spotlight at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing in March, winning the 800m title with a national short track record of 1:58.40. The 23-year-old picked up from where she left off during the outdoor season, improving her PB to 1:57.16 in Ostrava in June and matching that mark to finish runner-up at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene. The Olympic finalist also finished second in Rabat and third in Stockholm and sits second on this season’s top list.

Road to Tokyo