The Prince and Princess of Wales shared a message of support to the Lionesses, England’s Women’s World Cup team before their 6-1 victory over China on Tuesday (1 August).
“We’re all cheering you on @Lionesses!” said a tweet on the couple’s official Twitter account, wishing the squad “good luck” ahead of Tuesday’s match.
The Lionesses went on to beat China with goals from five different players and will play Nigeria in the round of 16 on Monday (7 August).
The group stage of the 2023 Women’s World Cup is almost complete, with just three more quartets needing to wrap up their opening games and discover which nations make the knockouts.
William and Kate have continued to share messages of support for the Lionesses, wishing them luck when they played Haiti in their first group-stage match at the tournament in July.
Prince William, who became president of the Football Association in 2006, has previously advocated for women’s football and visited the Lioness’s training ground last month ahead of the World Cup.
Addressing the team and staff on his visit, William told them the "sky is the limit" as he praised the team for advancing the women’s sport.
“I can’t believe another tournament has come around again,” he said. “You’ve set yourself up now and the only way is up. What you did for the country last year at the Euros was phenomenal and where you’re going to take women’s sport, not just football, is incredible.”
The Lionesses triumphed at the Euros last year, beating German 2-1.
William continued: “You’re a great team, the vibe I get from you all is fantastic. There are a lot of teams out there who could learn a lot from the way you work together. Huge respect, and go get them.”
The news follows after the recent release of the Lionesses world cup anthem.
Hope FC, made up of 11 of female-identifying British artists, including former Spice Girls singer Melanie C and Self Esteem, have come together to record the unofficial track for England’s World Cup campaign titled “Call Me A Lioness”.
Songwriter Glen Roberts became inspired to write the song after Lionesses won Euro 2022 and co-wrote it with producer Joel Pott and singer-songwriter Olivia Dean. In the song, one line goes: “We’re bringing it home again”.
Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, Sports Team’s Alex Greenwood, Marika Hackman, Rachel Chinouriri, Shura, Jasmine Jethwa, Rose Gray and Highlyy are the community of artists who worked on the song.
