Sarina Wiegman rued England's sloppyness from set-pieces, as the Lionesses' Euro 2025 qualifying hopes were dented by a 2-1 defeat to France.

England suffered their first home defeat in a qualifying match since October 2002 with Les Bleues - ironically the last nation to inflict such a loss - coming from behind to prevail at St James' Park.

The reigning European champions had the opportunity to leapfrog France to the Group A3 summit and, despite losing goalkeeper Mary Earps to injury early on, the hosts appeared on course to do just that when Beth Mead opened the scoring after half an hour.

However, they were undone by set-pieces in both halves, as goals from Elisa De Almeida and Marie-Antoinette Katoto completed the turnaround in the visitors' favour.

The Lionesses, who travel to Stade Geoffroy-Guichard for the return meeting on Tuesday, slip to third place in Group A3. And though Wiegman hailed the overall performance, she acknowledged her side must improve.

"It was frustrating," she told ITV Sport. "I think we played pretty well, we conceded two goals from set plays, which we have to do a lot better on.

"In these matches, you don't get too many chances. In the first half, we created multiple, but only scored one - and they unfortunately scored one too.

"We were more on the ball in the second half without creating too many more chances, but we were dangerous. The final pass needed to be better.

"We know France are really good at set-pieces. Of course, we were prepared, but they still got that time."

Skipper Leah Williamson added: "[We're] really disappointed, the game was there to be won. It was a fantastic occasion. The fans have never let us down, so it's a shame not to give them a win as well.

"We played well, not good enough to win the game, but the chances were there to win it. Two set-pieces have killed us. There's an element of luck to those things, but first contact and second contact need to be better. We will be better on Tuesday."

Sarina Wiegman has revealed her sister told her to win the European Championship with England prior to her death from cancer just before the tournament.

The Lionesses boss took time out from the preparations last summer to be at home in the Netherlands with Diana.

Following the final triumph over Germany, Wiegman kissed a bracelet that had belonged to her older sibling.

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She told The Times: “(It was) the saddest moment of my life – she was my best friend. In the Euros you park it. And afterwards, then you get hit a little bit.

“She had told me to seize this prize, and I had just done so. I was still calm, not emotional. The only thing I felt was a deep connection with my sister.

“She said ‘I’ll sit by the post or on the crossbar. I will help a little bit.’ So she was there all the time. It’s still very fresh. The missing part is just a big gap now.”

Diana was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the summer of 2021 and died three weeks before the start of Euro 2022.

“We celebrated life every day,” said Wiegman. “It was so quick, but it was very special too. We had moments to treasure together.”

Wiegman’s success with England, including a run to the World Cup final this summer, has led to speculation she could succeed Gareth Southgate as head coach of the men’s team.

She said of the prospect: “Would women be capable of coaching men? Of course. But I don’t have a goal that I want to coach men.

“(As England men’s boss) every step you take, you’re being watched and you’re being valued and judged, and I sometimes wonder: how much fun is that?”

She also praised the Football Association for its support of the women’s game despite her salary reportedly being only a fraction of that earned by Southgate.

“I’m very happy with how they treat me, how they make everything possible to perform at the highest level, and how also they’re working with the team to get that equal pay,” she said.

“I’m happy in my situation and I feel treated very equally. And I never make my choices based on money, or I would never have started coaching.”