Wiegman: 'There is huge potential'

Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman said this evening’s 7-0 victory over Jamaica in England’s send-off game ahead of UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 has heightened her excitement for this summer.

Wiegman explained that she was ‘really happy’ with the display in Leicester as fans turned out to wish the team well at the tournament.

“I thought it was a good performance,” said Wiegman. “We expected that we would be in the final third a lot, so we wanted to show what we could go there. Of course, we scored seven goals. That's really nice. And still, we thought we could do a little bit better at some moments, get a little more composure and make an extra pause.

“But overall, I'm really happy with the performance. We know that Jamaica didn't have all their best players, so they were struggling a little bit. But still, you have to do it yourself.”

The England boss – a two-time European champion with the Netherlands in 2017 and again with the Lionesses in 2022 – is gearing up for yet another tournament, this time in Switzerland.

And tonight’s display against the Reggae Girlz filled Wiegman with confidence ahead of next weekend’s Group D opener against France on Saturday 5 July (8pm BST kick-off).

“I've been involved in many tournaments now,” commented Wiegman. “Things develop in the tournament. You have to be prepared. You have to adapt to what you have in front of you and see what happens and make big decisions. I think there is huge potential in this squad and we have many options.”

Ella Toone, Lucy Bronze, Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo, Aggie Beever-Jones and Beth Mead were among the goals against Jamaica in Leicester, giving the head coach a selection headache.

Lauren James was also back in action, coming off the bench in the second half, having suffered a hamstring injury in April which raised concerns about her place in the squad due to the timeline of her return.

“The team is really strong,” continued Wiegman. “I think the players are in good form. They're ready to play, they're ready to start, ready to come on, and that was really good to see.

“We have many players that can play in the ten position. Jess Park has played there, Grace Clinton can play there, Ella Toone plays there, and now LJ is coming back, she could play up front, but you can also play in the ten role.

“Right and left-back, we can figure out. Lucy plays on the right side the most and on the left side, we've changed it a couple of times. It all depends on what we need. You try to find balance in your team, and at the same time, you have your gameplan which you want to get right, and we have options there.”

Despite the Reggae Girlz not being at full strength, the England boss was impressed with the performance, insisting her side are ready and raring to go for the EUROs.

“I am most of all excited – I'm excited about the team,” explained Wiegman. “We've had two weeks of training now and it was really good. We really got together, you can feel the fight in the team, that we want to go to the Euros now and go out there and play. And I'm not really busy with the third win, let's first get through it game by game.

“We all know what we want, and we also know what our opponents want. So, we'll bring it back and get ready for France.”