Lionesses Diary - Day 20: England return to training and set off to Geneva ahead of Italy semi-final

With just one day left before England embark on their quest for a second consecutive Euros final, preparations have ramped up.

Media were given access to a snippet of training to assess the damage of the Lionesses’ penalty win over Sweden, which looked like it could have claimed a couple of victims. The squad is now decamping to Geneva ahead of tomorrow’s huge semi-final.

Here is everything you need to know from Day 20 at Euro 2025.

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Today in camp

The full squad returned to the grass on Monday, after only those players with no or limited minutes had previously trained following the Sweden match. There may also have been a sense of the occasion about to unfold from the simplest thing, having to pack up from their base.

Three of the Lionesses’ four games have been in Zurich, which has also been their home away from home for their tournament. The defending champions did have an overnight stop elsewhere, staying an hour down the road in St Gallen the night of their final group game against Wales.

However, England were always going to return to Zurich, whether they progressed to the knockouts or not. Similarly, Esme Morgan revealed that part of the belief that fuelled their comeback against Sweden was that they weren’t ready to go home, with the defender choosing not to pack her suitcase.

This time, however, the Lionesses may have no choice, with their semi-final in Geneva three hours from Zurich, meaning England could fly home straight from there if they are knocked out.

Team news

The biggest question mark was whether Leah Williamson would be able to train after she was spotted leaving the stadium in Zurich on crutches and wearing a protective boot. It was reported to be just a precautionary measure, and it seems that is exactly the case after Williamson took part in training, alongside the whole squad.

As always, fans and journalists alike become body language experts and detectives, with Lucy Bronze showing no signs of extra strapping on the thigh which had caused her problems in the semi-final. She, Lauren James and Alex Greenwood all trained as normal after taking knocks in the game, while Hannah Hampton did not appear to be feeling any after-effects from the elbow to the face she received, which had sparked concerns about a broken nose.

Trending topics

Opta have crunched the numbers on each of the final four’s chances of winning Euro 2025. Incredibly, England have the highest chance out of the semi-finalists, the stats rating the probability of them winning at 36.5 per cent.

World champions Spain are understandably second with 31.1 per cent, with Germany being given a 23.5 per cent chance. Lowest-ranked side Italy are the obvious underdogs, with Opta giving them just an 8.9 per cent chance of winning the Euros.

What are the pundits saying?

Rachel Brown-Finnis is back with her predictions for the semi-final stage, and while the former Lioness believes England will get through, she thinks it won’t be as easy as people might expect.

“I'd love to say this game will be much more straightforward for England and that they will sail through, but I think we've already learned that it won't be that easy,” the former goalkeeper told BBC Sport. “If you had offered England a semi-final against Italy before these Euros started, they would have taken it.

“Also, if I were predicting a game between the two teams back then, I would have been very confident and said I could only see a Lionesses win. Now, however, it is a very different scenario. We have seen Italy grow as this tournament has gone on, including their self-belief. They will think they can beat England, and they are going to be very dangerous opponents.”

Quote of the day

“[The training session] was mainly focusing on us and our super strengths and being back on the rhythm of being on the pitch and getting connected again,” Grace Clinton said on That Lionesses Podcast. “For the Italy game, we just need to be at our best and not underestimate them as a team because they have got so far in the competition, they have done so well against other teams.

“So, the main focus is, don’t underestimate them, they are a very good side and stick to doing our strengths well.”

Best of the rest

Despite playing a day after England, Spain were back on the grass before the Lionesses. The world champions are bidding to become the third team to hold the World Cup and the Women’s Euros at the same time and have the upper hand on Germany, who went to penalties after playing 107 minutes with 10 players.

Germany have confirmed Sarai Linder, one of three players to start at right back, has suffered a capsular ligament injury, which has ruled her out of the semi-final, with uncertainty on her availability for a potential final. The Lionesses’ opponents, Italy, were back doing gym work and a session on the pitch on Saturday as they look to hold any kind of advantage over England, having had 24 hours longer to recover.