Lois Joel expects ‘extra bit of rivalry’ when Wales face England in Euros clash
- Gary Dalton
- Jul 10
- 2 min read
Wales defender Lois Joel expects facing England at Euro 2025 will inevitably infuse “an extra bit of rivalry” into their final group-stage clash.
Tournament newcomers Wales, who lost their opening matches in Switzerland to the Netherlands and France, are all but eliminated from the competition, needing to beat Sarina Wiegman’s defending champions by four goals or more and requiring the Netherlands to lose to France in order to avoid an exit.
Stalwart Jess Fishlock, 38, made history in Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat to France, becoming the first Welsh woman to score at a major tournament in a contest that also saw Joel make her major tournament debut in the 78th minute in St Gallen.
“We don’t really need any added motivation,” said Joel, when asked by BBC Sport Wales’ Feast of Football podcast if facing England would give them an extra spark.
“Just playing for Wales and representing the shirt, you want to win every game. When it’s against England, it gives that extra bit of rivalry, and we can’t wait to get out there.
“We’ve grown in momentum, we’ve grown in belief, and we think we can put on a really good competitive performance.”
Group D, widely characterised as this championship’s “group of death”, would be a tough introduction to major tournament football for anyone, let alone Wales, who are the lowest-ranked side in the competition.
England, arguably, should be the most challenging opponent yet after losses to
2017 champions the Netherlands and 2022 semi-finalists France.
“We want to stay in the competition as long as we can,” added the 26-year-old Newcastle defender. “But our goal is to not make this be the only major tournament we have, and to create a legacy beyond this tournament in Wales and have a meaningful impact.
“I think we’ve done that quite well and inspired a generation, hopefully, of young girls to keep playing and get to where we have.”
