Why Jess Carter didn't attend England's Euro 2025 trophy parade | OneFootball

The defender played a starring role in England’s final win over Spain

Jess Carter was not part of England’s parade to celebrate winning Euro 2025, as she had already flown back to the USA to rejoin training with her club Gotham FC.

The Lionesses partied at their team hotel in Switzerland into the early hours of Monday morning, before flying back home for a reception at Downing Street later that day.

Further celebrations took palace on Tuesday, including an open-top bus procession along The Mall.

The day culminated in a staged ceremony at the Queen Victoria Memorial, in front of Buckingham Palace.

Carter, however, was not involved as she had already returned to the USA, where she plays her club football.

The National Women’s Soccer League has been on a break during July, but teams return to action this weekend, and Carter has rejoined Gotham FC ahead of that.

The defender was one of England’s standout performers in the final against Spain, with head coach Sarina Wiegman hailing her display.

Carter’s performance came just a week after she revealed she had been receiving racist abuse online during the tournament.

The 27-year-old chose to come off social media after releasing a statement, and the England players later agreed they would no longer make the anti-racism gesture of taking the knee before matches.

Carter was on the bench for the semi-final against Italy but was restored to the starting XI for the final.

“I was super scared to play today for the first time in my life,” Carter told ITV after the final.

“But when I woke up and I saw my team, and the support I had and the belief I had from my teammates, my family and my manager, I knew I could just come out and give it my all. That’s all you can do.

“To have that faith from Sarina to put me back in the squad, and that she believed I could help this team win a trophy, was amazing. It gave me a lot of confidence going into this game.”