England player ratings vs France: From bad to worse! Mary Earps injury haunts Lionesses as Millie Bright shows rust in Euro 2025 qualifying defeat to Les Bleues

Perhaps England should've known it wouldn't be their day against France on Friday when Mary Earps suffered what appeared to be a hip injury with less than 45 seconds on the clock. A simple passing motion left the Lionesses' No.1 wincing in pain and though their fortunes briefly improved when Beth Mead put them ahead at St James' Park, an eventual 2-1 defeat to Les Bleues was the result of a disappointing display.

Things just didn't click for Sarina Wiegman's side in this match. There were nice moments, such as Mead's composed finish and a shot of hers later in the first half which forced Pauline Peyraud-Magnin into a sublime stop, but there were too few of these. There were no huge defensive errors that cost them, either, in what was just a flat performance. Instead, it was an inability to defend set pieces that hurt the Lionesses.

There was little they could do about Elisa De Almeida's stunning volley from a first half corner, except perhaps avoid conceding the dead ball situation, but failure to clear their lines from another in the second period was damaging and eventually led to Marie-Antoinette Katoto's skillful, sweeping finish. This was only England's first defeat in seven games, and first in the qualifying for Euro 2025, but after a draw against Sweden at Wembley in their first game in this competition, it leaves them third in a group of four ahead of a very difficult return game with the French on Tuesday.

GOAL rates the Lionesses' players from St James' Park...