Before the confetti rained down on England’s celebrations, leaving some players briefly entangled, Lucy Bronze could not resist kissing the harp-shaped Arnold Clark trophy. Her teammates soon followed her to collect their medals for the on-pitch presentation before Leah Williamson, the captain, hoisted the trophy aloft. Chloe Kelly was awarded the golden boot, Lauren James the player of the tournament award.
The Lionesses will hope for a repeat of these scenes on the other side of the world in July, when the World Cup finals take place in Sydney. For England it’s another piece of silverware, but attention will turn quickly towards winning the biggest prize in the game.
A 6-1 rout of Belgium, their third win in six days, ensured the Lionesses retained their crown with ease. Of course, there is a bigger picture at play: they have two matches and one international window to navigate before the World Cup comes into focus. The warm-down only served to further stoke the excitement among a sold-out crowd, with Arsenal’s Lotte Wubben-Moy soaking up applause at the end of every sprint. Kelly, the hero at Wembley last year, scored either side of Williamson’s powerful header to set England en route to victory before an own goal by Julie Biesmans and a close-range finish by Bronze. A spectacular stoppage-time strike by the substitute Elena Dhont proved a consolation, even more so when Williamson side-footed in her second of the night from outside the box to cap the scoring.
Belgium, powerless to extract the ball from England’s grasp, barely set foot inside their opponents’ half. England never looked like losing. In truth, it has been that way for some time. They were last defeated almost two years ago, in April 2021, in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Canada in Stoke-on-Trent. Sarina Wiegman is undefeated as England manager. They have now scored 137 goals across their past 29 matches, conceding just nine along the way. Even Wiegman has lost count. “How many [games unbeaten] are we now?” she said afterwards.
England’s players and staff visited the nearby seaside resort of Clevedon to stretch their legs hours before kick-off and from the moment Williamson drove wide inside the first couple of minutes they controlled proceedings in Bristol. Alex Greenwood saw an early shot from the edge of the box blocked before James, who again impressed, drove over from a Kelly cross. Kelly and James ably flanked Alessia Russo, who was preferred to Rachel Daly in attack, one of nine changes from Sunday’s victory over Italy as Wiegman sought to manage workloads. “I’m happy with how we have worked together in taking the next steps in preparation for the World Cup,” Wiegman said.
It was no surprise when Kelly got the ball rolling, turning in on the goalline with 12 minutes on the clock after she was set up by James. The in-form Chelsea forward stormed to the byline, crossed low into the box and Kelly feasted on a failed clearance by Biesmans. Kelly had gone close moments earlier but her effort was blocked by the Belgium centre-back Jody Vangheluwe. England doubled their advantage three minutes before the interval when Williamson showed great determination to rise above her marker to head in Bronze’s chipped cross.
Lauren Hemp, who replaced James at half-time, was the catalyst for England’s third goal, with Kelly tucking in the rebound after Nicky Evrard parried Hemp’s curling shot. Kelly grazed the upright and Williamson dropped a deft header wide from a cute Bronze cross but a fourth goal arrived when Biesmans turned Georgia Stanway’s pass into her own net. Bronze then poked in from close range before Williamson’s cool strike from distance completed the thrashing.
Wiegman conceded they had rarely been tested across the past week and shipping goals has become such a rarity that Dhont’s strike inevitably stung the England goalkeeper Mary Earps. Regardless, minutes later supporters were crooning to Sweet Caroline as they headed for the exits and the Lionesses ended the tournament with an aggregate score of 12-2. Matches against Australia and Brazil in April should provide stiffer tests. “I’m happy with … where we are now at this moment,” Wiegman said. “Of course we have to improve and we really want to improve too.”
