James returns as England smash Jamaica: Five things we learned ahead of the Women’s Euros | OneFootball

In their final match before this summer’s UEFA Women’s European Championship, England demolished Jamaica at Leicester’s King Power Stadium.

The fans turned up in their numbers to give the Lionesses a splendid send-off ahead of the tournament, and they were treated to a show.

England thrashed their visitors 7-0 in a completely dominant display. Ella Toone, Lucy Bronze, Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo, Aggie Beever-Jones and Beth Mead all found the back of the net.

Sarina Wiegman’s side will now travel to Switzerland with hopes of retaining the European title that England claimed for the first ever time back in 2022.

Here are five things we learned from England’s final preparation game ahead of the 2025 Women’s Euros:

Toone on top form

Ella Toone was on fire against Jamaica, as she found the net twice in the first-half. In the 10th minute Stanway found Toone on the edge of the box. The Manchester United forward opening the scoring as she took a touch and curled the ball into the top corner. She added another just before half-time, as her looping left-footed effort made its way in off the post. Toone was unable to complete her hat-trick but it was still a strong display from her ahead of this summer’s tournament.

James makes impact on return

Lauren James made her return to action, after spending nearly three months sidelined through injury. The Chelsea star came on just after the hour mark, and it took less than ten minutes for her to make an impact, as she assisted Russo with a perfect cross to score England’s fourth. The attacker has the potential to be a real difference maker for the Lionesses in Switzerland. Sarina Wiegman will hope she can remain fit throughout the tournament.

Jamaica’s goal denied by VAR

The Jamaicans in attendance did have something to celebrate. In the 19th minute Kayla McKenna levelled the score after England were caught out by a smart corner routine. However, England were saved by a VAR intervention after it somewhat harshly determined that Kalyssa van Zanten had obstructed Hannah Hampton’s vision from an offside position. Today’s match could have gone down a totally different route had the goal stood, but it did not.

Full-backs other different attacking threat

Both full-backs combined for England’s second goal as a Jess Carter cross was comfortably headed home by Lucy Bronze. It was an unusual combination but the players certainly enjoyed it. Carter ventured forward quite a lot throughout the match, something that has become a theme in recent international breaks for the Lionesses. The pair of defenders will also take pleasure from the clean sheet that England were able to keep.

Pitch quality a big issue

The quality of pitches in women’s football has been a talking point on more than one occasion this season. Today the playing surface was not up to scratch again. After a full season of Premier League football, the pitch at the King Power looked ready to be relaid. Unfortunately for the Lionesses that will not take place until after today’s game. Consequently, the match took place on a pitch that started tearing up from the first whistle. By the end of the game there were patches of missing turf all over the pitch, and it did not look like a suitable surface to play on.