Euro 2025: England players and substitutes stand in support of Jess Carter

England's players stood earlier their Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy began connected Tuesday aft the Lionesses decided to halt taking the knee.

The substitutes stood arm-in-arm connected the touchline earlier kick-off successful a amusement of solidarity with team-mate Jess Carter, who has been subjected to online racist maltreatment since the tourney began.

They were not joined by their Italian counterparts.

When asked if Italy would marque a motion astatine the match, defender Cecilia Salvai said they were "open and consenting to bash thing necessary".

Sections of the assemblage astatine Stade de Geneve sung Carter's opus and applauded successful the 16th infinitesimal successful enactment of the defender, whose squad fig is 16.

On Sunday, England's players announced they would nary longer instrumentality the genu earlier the commencement of matches aft Carter revealed she has been racially abused connected societal media passim the tournament.

The decision was questioned by the caput of football's planetary anti-discrimination body, Fare.

The Lionesses adopted the anti-racism motion - popularised by American shot subordinate Colin Kaepernick successful 2016 - during Euro 2022 and the 2023 Women's World Cup, but said successful a connection that it is "clear we and shot request to find different mode to tackle racism".

On Monday, England manager Sarina Wiegman told BBC Sport's Dan Roan: "Taking the knee, that's not enough. We person done that for a while. The interaction is not bully enough, it's not arsenic large arsenic we think.

"When determination is this signifier of racism we felt we person to bash thing else, thing different, truthful that's wherefore we are not taking the knee."

Wiegman said that Carter "wants to play and is available," but the Gotham FC defender was named among the substitutes with Esme Morgan preferred successful cardinal defence alongside skipper Leah Williamson.

Speaking to ITV earlier the match, erstwhile England striker Ian Wright said that portion helium would instrumentality the genu if helium were inactive playing, helium felt the determination to bash truthful is simply a "personal thing" and the motion was "always forced connected people".

The victor of Tuesday's crippled volition play either Spain oregon Germany successful the last astatine Basel's St Jakob-Park connected Sunday, 27 June astatine 17:00 BST.