For a few minutes on Saturday, before the final whistle confirmed a historic 2-1 loss, it looked like England's blushes could be saved. When Keira Walsh curled in just her second international goal in 88 appearances, it halved the deficit against France with three minutes, and added time to play. The Lionesses were alive - which was incredible given Les Bleues had been in firm control of this game since Alessia Russo's disallowed goal in the 16th minute.
However, had any of the efforts from Ella Toone, Grace Clinton, Lauren Hemp, or Michelle Agyemang somehow found their way into the back of the French goal, it would have surely been undeserving. That's not always how tournament football works, sure, but England were not good enough in Zurich, despite sometimes cursing their luck. Yes, Russo was incredibly unlucky not to break the deadlock, after Beth Mead was called for as marginal an offside as seemingly possible, and the lack of foul called on her in the build-up to France's second infuriated Sarina Wiegman in the dugout. But it is possible to dub those calls unfortunate and admit that the Lionesses were remarkably poor overall.
Leah Williamson has been lauded for her form this past season which helped Arsenal win the Champions League, with many backing her to have a big Euro 2025 off the back of such a year. Yet, her marking of Marie-Antoinette Katoto for the first goal was appalling and her inability to deal with Sandy Baltimore for the second had Karen Carney, the 144-time England international, crying out that she is "better than that" on ITV's coverage of the game.
She was not the only culprit. Lucy Bronze went flying past Baltimore in that same instance, before inadvertently setting up her Chelsea team-mate to strike home; Jess Carter will be having nightmares about Delphine Cascarino after how she ripped apart England's makeshift left-back; Hannah Hampton nearly fumbled a third in for France from Grace Geyoro's strike; while all of Mead, Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh were guilty of giving away the ball in dangerous situations that almost led to more goals for Les Bleues.
The good news is that this was only England's first game. There is time to make amends, against the Netherlands on Wednesday and then Wales next weekend. The bad news is that there is now no margin for error whatsoever. Lose to the Oranje, an outcome which is entirely possible if the Lionesses defend like this again, and Wiegman's side will become the first defending champion to be eliminated in the group stage of the European Championships. They came out to Switzerland to make history - but not like this.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Stadion Letzigrund...