Lionesses make different gesture in support of Jess Carter after refusing to take knee | OneFootball

The Lionesses bench opted to stand arm-in-arm instead of taking the knee against Italy to show their support to Jess Carter, standing up to the “ridiculous and disgusting” racist abuse she has been subjected to.

Carter spoke out at the abuse she has received throughout Euro 2025 on Sunday, with the 27-year-old deciding to step away from social media and the Football Association working with UK police to identify those responsible for the hateful posts.

England’s players have been angered by a team-mate suffering racist abuse during the tournament and decided in a meeting on Saturday night that they will not take the knee before kick-off against Italy - ditching the symbolic anti-racism gesture the Lionesses have performed for several years.

Carter said she was “ready to perform” against Italy if required but was dropped to Sarina Wiegman’s substitutes bench in Geneva, with Esme Morgan taking her place in the starting XI.

Yet as the game got underway, Carter and her fellow substitutes stood together on the touchline in a new gesture of solidarity against racism.

On the decision to not take the knee against Italy, midfielder Georgia Stanway said: "We've decided not to take the knee because we want more action to be made. We want to create more of a talking point and a point to make more change.

“That starts with social media and people having access to be able to do certain things. So our stance and opinion stay the same, and that's what we've decided as a collective.”

Stanway also said the Lionesses’ collective response to the abuse suffered by Carter has “brought us together as a team” and said anyone posting abuse towards players on social media “are not fans”.

England's substitutes stood arm-in-arm ahead of kick-off (Getty Images)

Wiegman, meanwhile, was confident the Lionesses will be able to switch their attention to the pitch against Italy, insisting that there was no expectation for them to send a message at kick-off.

“They don't need a message, the team came really well together,” she said.

“We spoke about it, everyone wants to perform tomorrow, but we wanted to address this and send a message to the world. It says a lot about the team."

Wiegman is aiming to lead England to a third major final after reaching the finals of the Euro 2022 and the 2023 World Cup, with only Italy standing in the way of a shot at defending their European crown on Sunday.