Late Eriksson goal secure narrow win for Sweden over Ireland in women's Euro qualifier

Sweden's defender Magdalena Eriksson scored a late set piece goal to defeat Ireland 1-0 in their Euro 2025 Group A3 qualifier on Tuesday, keeping the Swedes in second place despite England's surprise 2-1 win away to France in the late kickoff.

The Swedes, who won 3-0 in Dublin on Friday, struggled to break down a less aggressive but more organised Irish side in the Swedish capital, with keeper Courtney Brosnan once again in top form.

Brosnan kept the Swedes at bay with a battling performance from her outfield players until Eriksson stole into the box and headed home a Jonna Andersson corner in the 84th minute to grab all three points.

"It hit my back, it was a perfect ball from Jonna, we had a lot of corners in the first game and in this game, and I was a bit frustrated that I didn't get a good hit on any of the good balls that Jonna put in, but this time we connected well, it was extremely important," Eriksson said.

With the top two teams qualifying automatically for the finals and all teams having played four games, France leads the group with nine points, followed by Sweden two points behind and second only on goal difference ahead of England, who lost to France in Newcastle on Friday but won in Saint-Etienne on Tuesday.

The Irish are still at the bottom of the group, having earned no points and scored no goals so far this campaign.

"It's all about qualifying for the Euros, we knew we're in a really tough group and the aim for this camp was to get six points and we got them," Eriksson said.

"We still have two extremely hard games in July (against England and France), but we're going to do everything we can to get there in first or second place," she added.

SportsLigue