Leah Williamson makes ‘no fear’ pledge with England’s Lionesses on verge of history

Leah Williamson’s message remains the same as she aims to captain England to a second straight European Championships title with victory over Spain in Basel on Sunday

England captain Leah Williamson insists the Lionesses have to go into today’s Euro 2025 final with no fear – just as they did when they won it all in 2022. “There’s a lovely quote that I like and it’s: ‘Nobody wins afraid of losing’,” Williamson said in the last Euros after an 8-0 win over Norway.

England took inspiration from that victory and went all the way on home soil, beating Germany in the final at Wembley, and the mentality hasn’t changed as they chase back-to-back triumphs. “That’s the main thing. If you’re fearful of losing, even if you win, do you enjoy that experience, do you fully take it in?” Williamson asked.

“Do you give everything that you have? Or are you expending energy in the wrong way?

“I think this team is so task-focused that whatever is in our way, we will try to overcome that together. I don’t think we’re a team fearful of losing. Anything can happen in football – there is so much out of your control.

“We focus on being the best people we can to each other, performing the best that we can and hopefully that gives you the result you want. But definitely not fearful of losing because you do expend energy in ways you don’t want to.”

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England already know they can beat Spain, having won 1-0 Wembley earlier in the year before suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat to the same opponents in June. The teams also famously met in the 2023 World Cup final, with Spain winning 1-0 on that occasion through an Olga Carmona goal.

All that could make for a tight encounter, and manager Sarina Wiegman recognises her team needs to be in top gear. “We’ve played each other a lot over the last couple of years. You always have learnings,” Wiegman said.

“They will have learned from us in the games we’ve played. [The final] is a new situation so hopefully we can exploit some of the weaknesses they have too.”

It’s a third straight major tournament final for England, and a fifth in a row for Wiegman including Euros and World Cup runs with the Netherlands. There has almost been an expectation that the Lionesses will be there or thereabouts, but that doesn’t make this year’s run any less of an achievement in Wiegman’s eyes.

“I think every tournament, of course, you want to perform, and there’s expectations, but you also have expectations for yourself,” the manager said. “I just know that going into a final is already very, very special. Making the final, there’s only two teams that can make the final.

“So if you talk about pressure, that’s not really a pressure, it’s very special. And when you go to a final, you really want to win it, too. So that’s how I mean this. We’re happy that we’re in the final, and really want to win it and do everything to make that happen.”

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