England defender Lucy Bronze has admitted she was "shocked" by France's decision to leave out veteran centre-back Wendie Renard from their Euro 2025 squad, suggesting the omission could potentially weaken the French side.
The Lionesses will begin the defence of their European crown in Zurich on Saturday at 20:00 BST, with a highly anticipated group-stage clash against France.
Bronze, who played alongside Renard at Lyon, winning three consecutive UEFA Women’s Champions League titles between 2017 and 2020, spoke highly of her former teammate and questioned the impact of her absence.
“Wendie is a good friend of mine and the epitome of what you want in a captain,” said Bronze. “When I was at Lyon, her leadership on and off the pitch was faultless. I’m sure she’ll be devastated not to be at the Euros.
“The manager has gone in a different direction – that’s football sometimes. But it’s a big shock, and not selecting someone like Wendie could weaken the French team. I want to play against the strongest version of France.”
Renard, 34, boasts 168 international caps and previously captained the national team. France head coach Laurent Bonadei defended his decision, stating that it was "a different selection" and "not made in the spur of the moment."
Bronze will face several familiar opponents on Saturday, including Sandy Baltimore of Chelsea and Selma Bacha, another former Lyon teammate. England and France met during Euro 2025 qualifying, with each side earning a 2-1 away win.
The match in Zurich is being billed as the headline fixture of the group stage, with both sides widely tipped as title contenders. England are seeking to win back-to-back games against France for the first time since 1974. Despite England’s recent success, France have not lost a group-stage match at the Euros since 2009, and have opened each of their last five tournaments with a victory.
England manager Sarina Wiegman has an impeccable tournament record, having won all 12 of her matches at the Euros, guiding the Netherlands to victory in 2017 and England to glory in 2022.
“There’s a lot of mutual respect between the teams,” said Bronze. “We’ve played each other often enough to know what to expect.
“I don’t think France fear us, but they respect what we’re capable of – and we feel the same.
“It’s a big game to open the tournament with, but that’s what you want at this level. You want to test yourself against the best, and we’ll get to do that right away. There are no surprises – you know what standard you need to reach.”
