In the aftermath of England’s opening defeat to France at Euro 2025, shell-shocked players were starting to realise the scale of the criticism that could come their way if they crashed out of the tournament after just two games. The criticism England received, and a lot of it came from within as well as from outside, meant there was nowhere to hide. “We finished the game against France and we got cameras and microphones shoved in our face telling us how bad we are,” said Lucy Bronze.
This is the new world the Lionesses have created, where their achievements in winning the Euros and reaching the World Cup final have rightly resulted in greater attention, but also greater scrutiny should they fall short of those standards. Even Sarina Wiegman admitted to feeling “tense” before facing the Netherlands, where defeat would have led to elimination.
