Defender Wendie Renard's 38th goal for France was the difference as the Olympic hosts won 1-0 in Sweden on Tuesday, April 9, their second victory by that score in qualifying. With just 10 minutes remaining, Marie-Antoinette Katoto put Sakina Karchaoui's cross back across goal to where Renard was waiting to power the ball across the line from close range. The goal topped off another dominant display by Les Bleues but yet again it was one in which they were too wasteful in front of goal.
Sweden's chances of grabbing a second draw of their campaign, after last week's 1-1 at Wembley, were given a boost when Vicki Becho picked up a second booking eight minutes into added time. But it came too late and, even reduced to 10, France held on to make it two wins in two games. After beating Ireland 1-0 in Metz on Friday, France sit top of their group on six points, ahead of Sweden and England in second.
Meanwhile, world champions Spain roared back from a goal down in Burgos to beat Czech Republic 3-1 in Euro 2025 qualifying. Second-half goals from Maria Mendez, Jenni Hermoso and Mariona Caldentey propelled Spain to victory after Eliska Sonntagova's surprise opener for the visitors.
Reigning European champions England defeated Republic of Ireland 2-0 in Dublin, courtesy of early strikes by Lauren James and Alex Greenwood. James opened the scoring on 12 minutes with defender Greenwood doubling the lead six minutes later from the spot. Greenwood then missed a second penalty on the half-hour mark but England nonetheless saw out the match to get a first win of their qualifying campaign.
After an excellent win on matchday one against the Netherlands, Italy succumbed 2-1 in Finland with Jutta Rantala striking in the second half to cancel out Lucia Di Guglielmo's first-half opener before an Elena Linari own-goal with 15 minutes remaining gave the hosts victory.
The Netherlands got their qualification bid on track with a 1-0 home win against Norway thanks to a sixth-minute Lineth Beerensteyn goal. In Group 4, Austria won 3-1 in Poland while three first-half goals gave Germany a win by the same margin at home to Iceland.