Lucy Bronze on her top five England matches

From EURO Finals to World Cup showdowns, the Lionesses' third all-time top appearance maker Lucy Bronze has lived it all.

Here, she takes a look back at five of her standout England games.

England 1-1 Japan, June 2013

On the same night that Rachel Yankey became England’s most-capped international, a fresh-faced Lucy Bronze made her senior bow at Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium.

The 21 year old, who was on the books of Liverpool at the time, came on as a second-half substitute for Dunia Susi in a 1-1 draw against Japan in the build up to EURO 2013.

“It was the game she got more caps than Peter Shilton,” recalled Bronze. “She was an idol of mine growing up, so being a small part of that history was like, ‘oh my, God – I’m here when Rachel Yankey’s playing’.

And she almost marked her debut with a goal, only for her header to be chalked off.

“I didn’t expect to play,” she explained. “I remember being subbed on I think with Jade Moore at the same time and Hope [Powell] was the manager and her just saying, ‘go and enjoy yourself’.

“It was against Japan – at the time, the world champions – so to have my debut against the best team at the world in the time was insane.

“I actually scored a header that got ruled offside because someone else touched the ball, so I was a bit gutted! I scored on my debut but it got ruled out.”

Belarus 0-3 England, June 2014

Bronze’s ‘first official goal’ came 12 months later in a World Cup qualifying win over Belarus in Minsk. The defender added gloss to the scoreline, with England already 2-0 up in added time to add a third.

“I had lived some of the moments with other players scoring their first goals and I understand now why all the players were super excited,” said Bronze.

“It was in Belarus which for most people would seem like nothing but Belarus is where we played one of our Under-19 Championships, so it had a little bit of a link to my youth England career.

“I remember after that game, Alex Scott did the interview with me. We were sat on the pitch afterwards and she was obviously wanting to get into media. She said, ‘can I do Lucy’s interview for her first goal?’ So, Alex Scott did one of the very first interviews ever with me scoring a goal which is funny to look back on now because she’s a household name on the telly.”

Norway 1-2 England, June 2015

A place in the quarter-final of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup was at stake when Bronze produced a moment of magic with just 15 minutes remaining of England’s last-16 tie against Norway and the scores level at 1-1.

Taking aim from 25 yards out, the defender’s rocket rippled the net to send the Lionesses through to the final eight, with England going on to place third in Canada.

“That game is the highlight of my entire career,” said Bronze.

“It was the first game I actually took Alex Scott’s spot at right-back. It was the first knockout game and the manager picked me over Alex which had never, ever happened before – I’d only played to rest her. For me, that was a huge moment because Alex was the best right-back in the world at one point.

“It was also the first-ever knockout game England had ever won at a World Cup – we’d never won one before that. It was my first World Cup goal, so there was just so much surrounding that game.

“In training the day before, Alex Scott had been the one that said, ‘you need to shoot more often when you’re in those positions’,” she recalled. “When the ball got sent back to me, I was thinking, ‘I’ve just got to hit it’.

“I think it got nominated for goal of the tournament but Carli Lloyd scored in the final from the halfway line, so I didn’t stand a chance really!”

England 2-1 Germany, July 2022

Bronze was ‘frozen in time’ when Lauren Hemp’s 110th minute corner dropped in the box with the clock ticking at Wembley in the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Final.

She had a front row seat as Chloe Kelly squeezed the ball through the German defence to win a first major honour for England.

“I remember the corner coming in and I was just trying to keep it in and I just couldn’t move my body to get to it,” she said. “I can still picture it in my head now, this slow motion of being the closest and seeing it all unfold. Probably even before Chloe [Kelly], I was the first one to know it was going in.

“I remember being stood there and Chloe just ran past me and past everyone and I was just frozen on the spot in that moment of knowing, ‘that’s it – we’ve finally done it’.”

And having missed out on trophies with her country in the past, Bronze finally took home the gold.

“Having been part of England for so long – it was the same for Jill [Scott] and Ellen [White] – it was a feeling you just couldn’t describe,” continued Bronze. “That was a moment that’s definitely carved into my memory for the rest of my life.”

Sweden 2-2 England (2-3 on pens), July 2025

A seventh major tournament was on the horizon for Bronze after making Sarina Wiegman’s squad for last summer’s EUROs.

At 33 years of age, the Lionesses veteran called upon her expertise to keep her cool when England fell 2-0 behind to Sweden in the quarter-final in Zürich.

“I remember thinking, ‘we’ve really given ourselves a tough one here’ but I never lost belief in the team,” she explained.

“I can remember in the first half picking myself up a bit and being like, ‘right, come on – you need to push the girls on, play a little bit harder’.

“I scored the goal and I was thinking, ‘the momentum has changed – we’ve got this’. That game was one of the most emotionally draining games I’ve ever been part of.

Bronze halved the deficit late in the day before Michelle Agyemang restored parity minutes later. And with the shootout at sudden death, the Chelsea star made no mistake with England’s seventh and final spot-kick, blasting the ball straight down the middle.

“I think three times we were on the verge of being knocked out by a single shot, then having to step up myself to take the last penalty, it’s not something that I’ve ever done for England. I’ve always said, if I needed to take a penalty for England, I’ll be ready no matter what but that was the first time I actually had to do it."