Lionesses lessons from World Cup qualifying: Hampton and Russo shine with winning blueprint

England still need to learn how to play to their strengths when handling physical and organised teams such as Iceland

The Lionesses’ performance against Spain showed the Euro 2025 final wasn’t a one-off. England have the blueprint for how to beat the world champions: conceding possession, forcing them central and using the threat of Lauren James and Lauren Hemp out wide to punish them on the counter. They were mature and disciplined at Wembley, if a little nervy at the close, with Sarina Wiegman’s team failing to build on their early lead.