Leah Williamson reveals injury ‘anxiety’ ahead of leading England’s Euros defence | OneFootball

England captain Leah Williamson has revealed she held some “anxiety” ahead of leading England’s Euro 2025 campaign in Switzerland after being ruled out of the last World Cup with a serious knee injury.

Williamson captained the Lionesses to their historic victory at Euro 2022 three years ago but played no part in their run to the World Cup final in 2023 after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury just weeks before the tournament.

On the eve of England’s opening game against France in Zurich, Williamson said she was “excited” and “intrigued” to experience another Euros but admitted the pain of missing the World Cup had weighed on her mind before the tournament.

“I've probably held some anxiety, I suppose, up until this moment just because I wanted to be here and I wanted to be with the team,” Williamson said at England’s pre-match press conference.

“I wanted to experience another tournament for England, and being away from home. It's special when you come to another country to represent your country and just take everything in.

“It's a bit different England in 2022, so I'm just taking everything in. I'm very excited, but also so much has changed, so I'm intrigued to come back and enjoy that tournament football.”

England head coach Sarina Wiegman has told her players to not focus on defending their European title, but instead challenge themselves to go out and win another major trophy.

There are seven England players who will be making their first appearance at a major tournament and Wiegman has looked to motivate her squad by drawing a line under their past achievements.

Williamson was a key part of England’s victory at Euro 2022 and is back to lead the Lionesses (Getty Images)

“We absolutely cherish what we have done before,” Wiegman said. “We’ll never forget it and it was the experience of a lifetime for us and for our families and also for the fans, but you have to move on and you have to be on top of it.

“Things are changing very quickly, things are developing very quickly, so we have to do too. And we came together, it was actually in February and then we came to, to this day we said, yeah, it's a new challenge. The approach was there anyway, but we call it the ‘new’ England.”

Williamson said the England squad are looking at the Euros as “new territory” for the team. “You explained it very well,” Williamson said while turning to Wiegman. “Not necessarily looking at it as a defence, but a new challenge and a new opportunity to do something new.

“We take any challenge that comes our way, but it's more about focusing on the day to day, and that's always a dream. Every team in the tournament has a dream, but I suppose nobody really connects to it.”