England Lionesses star says 'I don't want to do that again' in candid Euros admission

Lionesses star Georgia Stanway has confessed there's one aspect of England's Euro 2025 victory she never wants to experience again. Sarina Wiegman's squad defended their European title in a thrilling penalty shootout against world champions Spain.

The Lionesses certainly didn't have it easy in Switzerland. After an opening loss to France, they were immediately under pressure but managed to defeat the Netherlands and Wales to secure a spot in the knockout stage in second place.

The real drama unfolded there as England repeatedly snatched victory from the brink of defeat. In the quarter-finals, the Lionesses were trailing Sweden 2-0 well into the second half, only to mount a comeback and force extra-time and a nail-biting penalty shootout, which they won 3-2.

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England seemed on the verge of elimination once more in the semi-finals, trailing Italy in added time, only to force extra-time with a last-gasp 96th-minute goal and then clinch the match at the end of extra-time. The Lionesses found themselves playing catch-up again against Spain in a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final.

However, Alessia Russo's second-half goal forced extra-time, with Chloe Kelly scoring the decisive penalty in the shootout. Remarkably, across their three knockout stage matches, England led for less than five minutes - four minutes and 52 seconds to be precise.

Despite taking pride in England's Euro victory, Stanway is keen to avoid such a nerve-wracking tournament in the future. The Bayern Munich midfielder confessed to The Guardian: "I don't want to experience that again. It was such a stressful tournament.

"But it also proves that, technically, you don't have to play the best football and you don't have to be winning in the first half or even the second half. You only need to be leading for one second."

Having tasted Euro glory twice, Stanway has set her sights on the ultimate prize, the Women's World Cup, due to be held next in Brazil in 2027. She said: "Win the World Cup and I'll happily retire because then that's all my dreams come true.

"It would have been really nice to do it in Australia but when you're beaten by the better team, like Spain, you accept the situation. So we need to continue to grow and adapt and evolve. If we do that then there's no reason why we can't become world champions."

Several of Stanway's England colleagues were in action during the Women's Super League's opening weekend. Reigning champions Chelsea kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 triumph over Manchester City on Friday, while Arsenal dispatched London City Lionesses 4-1 on Saturday.

In Sunday’s action, Everton won the Merseyside derby with a 4-1 victory at Liverpool, while Manchester United thrashed Leicester City 4-0 at home.

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