Lucy Bronze has challenged England to complete a “next-level achievement” and become the first England team to win back-to-back major tournament trophies as they begin their bid to qualify for the 2025 Euros.
The reigning European champions play Sweden at Wembley on Friday night in their first qualifying group game before heading to Dublin for Tuesday’s match against the Republic of Ireland.
“Obviously we want to qualify for the Euros, and that’s the goal for this campaign,” said the Barcelona full-back. “But the longer-term goal would obviously be to win the tournament. We go into every tournament wanting to win it. [It] would be a special part of history to be a team that could potentially go back-to-back at a tournament. It’s difficult in any tournament, whether it’s the WSL, the Champions League, but it would be a next-level achievement to do that on an international stage.”
That achievement is not inconceivable with the team ranked No 2 in the world behind Spain, and Bronze suggested that the quality at England’s disposal has only gone up since the historic Euros win in 2022.
“We’ve probably got a little bit more experience than the Euros [in 2022], which is a crazy thing to say,” said Bronze. “We know how to win and we also have a standard now at England, that we get to finals, we want to win trophies, and all the players who come through feel that and then they raise their game to that.”
Sarina Wiegman’s side must finish in the top two to qualify automatically from what has been dubbed the “group of death” with France, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland. Should they finish third or fourth then they would face a playoff campaign.
“Of course you want to qualify automatically because that means we can play friendlies [in the autumn] and then we can control that and that would be really nice,” said Wiegman. “You want to win every game but [with friendlies] also you can try out new things. But it all depends on what we’re going to do this week and in June and July.”
Wiegman has been able to welcome back Euro 2022 captain Leah Williamson for the first time since the defender suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury last April. The Arsenal centre-back trained separately to the team initially but part in full training on Thursday. “It’s just really good that she’s back,” said Wiegman. “First of all for herself, because she’s so excited to come back, and that means she’s fit. It’s good to have another quality player in the squad. We were in a good place already and now we’re in an even better place.”
Should Williamson enter the pitch she will have the armband returned to her. “Leah’s our team captain, that will not change, but we want to get through this training session and see what final decision we make tomorrow. If she plays, she’s the captain,” confirmed the manager.
As discussions between Fifa and stakeholders continue on the new international match calendar, which will come into force in 2026, Bronze said she hopes there will be room for a “few alterations”.
“Obviously, the demands are getting higher,” she said. “I had two days off between a Champions League final and World Cup preparations, so it’s nothing that I’m not used to. As a player all you can do is keep yourself prepared, keep resting properly, do the right things. I’m part of Fifpro and I join discussions with Sarina, Fifa, Uefa, but it’s down to them to programme the calendar better for the good of the game but for the wellness of the players involved.”
Wiegman will be without the reserve goalkeeper Khiara Keating, who has “some discomfort in her knee” and has left the camp, with Southampton’s Kayla Rendell called up in her place.
