“We will play through absolutely anything to be on this stage” says Leah Williamson as England prepare for Euro 2025 final | OneFootball

Leah Williamson has said that England are prepared and confident ahead of the final of Euro 2025 against a Spain side who are already world champions.

The entire squad trained prior to the match, and Williamson praised the strength in depth that England can boast.

“I would just echo what Sarina [Wiegman] says. We have a team of talented players, we all bring something slightly different just like the others,” she said.

England may be in the final, but their route there hasn’t been without bumps in the road. Their loss to France in the opening game drew broad criticism, and performances against Sweden and Italy left a lot to be desired. But, they’re here and they may well be peaking at just the right time; that’s certainly what Williamson believes.

“I think you grow in a tournament, and we are aware of that. The most important thing for us is, as the game goes on, taking advantage of the work that we’ve done at the start. And in every game, I know that  we have left it late, but I think that’s been the case, and every team is hard to beat, every team poses a different threat, a different challenge, and we have to stay in it for as long as possible, until we can take advantage of that. So hopefully, it’s true, and the best is yet to come,” she said.

“We are very connected to what it means to the nation, and in that sense, as connected as we can being away from home. I think the opportunity of tomorrow and what’s on offer is the best thing in football. We came to the tournament. We wanted to be here. We wanted to be in it till the end and have a chance to fight for that trophy. And you can’t do that until you get to the final. So I think we don’t necessarily carry the weight of it and how much it means to people, but we’re aware of it because it means the same to us. So you have a squad of excited players, focused players, and like I say, we recognise the opportunity and we’ll do everything we can to take it.”

Three years ago, England were in this same position: in the final of the European Championship. But, back then, they were facing Germany, and they were doing it on home soil. This final brings a different scenario and different challenges, and as far as Williamson is concerned, it’s a different beast entirely.

“The beautiful thing about 2022 will be that I don’t think any of us will ever be a part of something like that again in terms of the change, of the story, the journey, everything,” she said. “Being away from home is special in a different way. You go out to represent your country somewhere else. The weight of that is important to consider, because it sometimes adds a little extra. But the history on the line is, it seems that every time this team enters a new year,  there’s so much to be done and could be done. It’s a really privileged time to be a part of this team, and to be involved. The opportunity is there to be the first this and the first that, all the time. It’s a huge motivator. But more because we all know what it will do for women’s football and continue the legacy we have already started.”

Of course, England won that final against Germany. They’re already European champions, and if they defeat Spain in Basel, they’ll become the first nation to retain the trophy in over a decade. They also might just banish the demons of 2023 in the process, when The Lionesses lost to this Spain team in the final of the World Cup. Williamson knows how important this could be for the squad.

“I think the consistency of the girls, obviously, I wasn’t involved in 2023, and I think the consistency and the landscape keeps changing, and we’re trying to change with it. And I think that’s a really hard thing to do. That proves the investment and the quality of the game in England is continuing to rise. And I hope that us staying, we don’t want to be sort of a flash in the pan, like a memory. I think that when we spoke before ‘22 we said it was the start of something, and I think this is. We’re still trying to play our role in that as well. So being here and being on this stage, we know how powerful that is, and I hope that it continues, and it continues to grow. And the respect for the women’s game, the respect for women and women’s sport in general continues. We can try our best to continue to elevate that,” she said.

England have had to play some rough and physical games throughout the tournament, with a number of players’ fitness at risk. However, the skipper said they will give everything they can in this final test.

“I can speak for every single member of the squad when we say that, as long as we get the green light, we will play through absolutely anything to be involved on this stage. My ankle’s great. I had a scare. I want to be involved and available to help the team in any way they need me. I obviously played that game, the semi-final and I am ready to go tomorrow.”

They were far from favourites going into the tournament, and they still aren’t now with only one game left to play. Williamson acknowledged that England will have to be at their very best if they want to beat a Spain time who have been unplayable at times during this tournament.

“We play a game against the world champions who continue to prove themselves over and over in the way they play football. They are a fantastic footballing team and they are the best at what they do and we’re very much aware of that. We think we’re pretty good in areas as well. We need to be at our best to beat Spain. I think they need to be at their best to beat us too. There is a lot of respect between the two teams. I would be hesitant to say there’s an underdog in this scenario. Ultimately we’re going against the world champions tomorrow and that’s not an easy job. We will prepare ourselves as best we can for that challenge.”

Williamson was absent from the 2023 World Cup through injury, something which still bothers her now.

“It was awful. I mean, once you’re part of the team, being on the outside, and I know how tired you are when you get to that stage, and how how much a tournament takes out of you, and to be completely useless, that probably bothers me the most, but to sit with the families, knowing what they go through, and that actually makes me reflect on this tournament, and we haven’t been very kind to them at all, but it’s, yeah, I think that that feels like a really long time ago, which is probably a benefit for the whole squad. But yeah, anybody would give anything to be part of their team when they’re going through moments like that. So it was tough.”

England have played Spain twice in six months, most recently in a 2-1 loss in June. For Williamson, this is both a gift and a curse.

“Yeah, it’s hard, because you can’t focus on the last game too much, whatever that may be,” she said. “So we look at Spain this tournament, I’m sure they’ve looked at us in the same way. And tomorrow’s a new game, and I’m sure we’ll present new challenges.”

As captain, Williamson is one of the key figures of this England squad. It’s a role she relishes, but she’s well aware that she’s still part of something much bigger.

“I think the things that maybe when you step away from football later down the line you look back, but for now I play a team sport. I think for all of us, all 23, you share it. You feel like you share those things. Somebody has to wear an armband, somebody has to do that role, but we all just feel it together and it’s less of an ‘I won this’ and more ‘we’, always. So of course there’ll be lovely things to talk about later down the line and if you want to look at success that way, I would probably say that success to me is happiness in your circumstance and your company and I think that’s more important than those things to me.”

Back in 2022, Willaimson said: “Nobody wins afraid of losing.” That’s something which she believes still rings true now, and it’s an attitude her and the squad will be bringing into this most recent final.

“I think that’s the main thing you can make you fearful of losing, and even if you win, do you enjoy that experience? Do you fully take it in? Do you give everything that you have, or are you expending energy in the wrong way? And I think this team is so task focused, and whatever’s in our way, then we’ll try and overcome that together. I don’t think we’re a team fearful of losing. In football anything can happen, and there’s 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 that you want, but definitely not fearful of losing, because it does, you expend energy in ways that you don’t want to.”

Against Sweden and Italy, Williamson was withdrawn, with Sarina Wiegman opting to bring on more attacking players to turn those games around. Even with the absence of their captain on the pitch, England were able to win both ties, and she attributes this to the many leaders in the squad.

“Obviously your role becomes slightly redundant but there are still ways you can affect the team. We have a good process in those moments so even if you’re off the pitch you have a role to play, so it’s maybe easier than being in the stands. Also it means you get to run on and celebrate with the team if they do well. But I think we have so many leaders in so many different ways, beyond the conventional ways of leadership that people would recognise. People that offer certain things in certain moments, and they know that’s their bag, so to speak, and they really step up. I think we have a lot of those characters and maybe we’ve created a good environment for those people to feel comfortable enough to do it. But I do feel everybody really knows when they can step up and contribute, and they have done.”

England’s final against Spain will kick off at 18:00 CET (17:00 GMT) on Sunday July 27th at St. Jakob-Park in Basel.