Euro triumph has Lionesses hungry for more
ENGLAND have set their sights on winning the 2023 World Cup after clinching their first major trophy on Sunday night.
The Lionesses celebrated their European Championship victory against Germany in front of 7,000 fans in Trafalgar Square yesterday. And manager Sarina Wiegman — who is set to be offered a new contract by the FA — will lead England into next year’s tournament confident of another triumph.
Defender Lucy Bronze said: ‘The Euros is fantastic, especially in our home country, but there’s still one more we can get our hands on next year. There’s a little star missing
from our crest at the minute on the England shirt. That’s definitely a mission of ours, to get that star.’ England top their qualifying group for next year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand by five points, with two games remaining. Bronze believes having tournaments in consecutive years can work in the Lionesses’s favour.
‘We’ve got a year to build on what we’ve already done here,’ she said. ‘We could carry on that momentum, that lift of the nation’s support.’ The FA are planning contract talks with Wiegman, who is expected to receive a pay rise. The 52-year-old, who took charge of the Lionesses in September last year, is contracted until 2025. And FA director of women’s football Sue Campbell and chief executive of the FA Mark Bullingham said they would like to keep her for ‘a long time’.
‘She needs a holiday. Her husband, her two kids and her dad are all here, she’s going off in a camper van,’ Campbell said. ‘She’ll have a few weeks off and then when she gets back we’ll have a conversation.’ Bullingham added: ‘She only signed in September but we would love her to be with us for a long time. She’s a really special person and talent.’ Meanwhile, a record peak television audience of 17.4 million people tuned in to watch England’s triumph on Sunday. Interest in the Lionesses has soared over the last month and the showpiece at Wembley is the mostwatched television programme so far this year. A further 5.9 million saw history unfold online, meaning that over 23 million — a third of the UK population — were watching at some point on Sunday.
The 87,192 crowd at the final was also a record attendance for any Euros match in history, male or female.