Georgia Stanway: I never imagined I'd be in the top 10!

Georgia Stanway says England are embracing the challenge of securing qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027, with the midfielder determined to help the Lionesses return to the biggest stage.

The England midfielder heads into a crucial camp having recently become one of the Lionesses’ top 10 all-time goalscorers, a milestone she admits she never imagined reaching.

“It’s really special,” she said. “I never expected anything like this, you never dream of something like this because you don’t really think it’s possible”.

“I am very honoured and very grateful. To be a midfielder and playing a deeper role sometimes and be amongst some of the best, it’s an unbelievable achievement”.

“But you can’t do it without the team, and you can’t do it without your team support and your team passing the ball to you. There’s a lot behind the scenes.”

See the Lionesses' all-time top 10 goalscorers list in full here.

Stanway only became aware of the achievement after the game and was quick to acknowledge the players around her, including fellow goalscorer Alessia Russo.

“It was only after the game,” she said. “I didn’t really realise at the point that was even an option”.

“It’s nice that Alessia is up there as well. That’s extra special. I’m sure she’ll take over me a lot faster than I’ll be scoring more goals!”

Reflecting on some of her favourite England goals, Stanway pointed to her dramatic strike against Spain in the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 quarter final.

“Spain has got to be up there,” she said. “Just everything that was leading up to that moment – the state of the game, the fact that we needed it to get into the semi-final.”

The 26-year-old also highlighted her hat-trick against China at Wembley Stadium during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, when she became only the third Lioness to score a treble at the national stadium.

“Very surreal,” she said. “I think I only actually had three chances in the game and three of them ended up being a goal, which is very rare in football”.

“I just took my opportunities. It was a game where we dominated the ball and as a team we had a lot of chances.”

Stanway’s goalscoring record has been aided by her remarkable composure from the penalty spot, having converted all 14 of her penalties for England.

“If it’s 14 out of 14, I’m probably due a miss at some point soon!” she joked.

“It’s just having your own process, having your own zone. Winning a penalty is not only about the penalty taker, but also how we protect the penalty taker and remove all the outside noise so I’m able to do my job successfully.”

With qualification for next year's World Cup in Brazil on the line, Stanway says the squad is fully focused on achieving its objective.

“So important,” she said. “We know what’s on the line and we know what is at stake and I think that makes it even more exciting.

“We know what we want to do and of course, getting to another World Cup would be unbelievable.

“We’ve got so much pride and so much feeling for what it was like being in Australia and we want to be able to feel that again.”

The Lionesses will look to take another step towards qualification as they continue their campaign in this international window against Spain and Ukraine, with for the Ukraine game tickets still available.