England Women 5-0 Belgium (Bronze 21’, Bright 45’, Beever-Jones 67’, Park 77’, Walsh 88’)
ASHTON GATE – Effortless and pinpoint, there is a nonchalance about Lauren James’ touches that can almost look other-worldly. Before the full weight of her impact could be felt as England eased past Belgium in the Nations League, she had glided off again.
A tweak to her hamstring will cast a mini shadow over what was otherwise a night of immense satisfaction for Sarina Wiegman. It is incumbent on the Lionesses to lay down a marker ahead of this summer’s European Championship and this was an emphatic victory over one of the sides who not so long ago revealed the chinks in their armour.
Wiegman will particularly welcome the headache that is opening up on the right. It will be fascinating to see how she settles the toss-up between Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead and Lauren James – especially when James excels wherever she lines up.
This time it was Mead given the nod in Kelly’s absence, with James starting on the left. Both teamed up superbly with Alessia Russo in a front three that looked fluent and threatening until it was interrupted by James’ injury.
The Chelsea forward had already grazed the crossbar when she dipped across to the other flank and lofted a cross in for Lucy Bronze’s diving header.
Moments earlier, the ball had looked to be beyond Mead until she slid in and made just enough contact to set up a Russo strike that rattled the woodwork, showing the fruits of their Arsenal partnership.
Yet the irony won’t have been lost on Wiegman, who before kick-off had lamented the loss of Kelly – for whom the stage had felt ripe.
So remarkable has Kelly’s resurgence been since joining Arsenal in January that it felt inevitable that she would play a key role, not dissimilar to her spectacular performance in the Champions League triumph over Real Madrid. Instead, she has returned to her club for treatment on a foot problem.
POTM: Lucy Bronze
Stellar going forward and contributed a lot more than even her goal and assist suggest. Wiegman hailed her afterwards as an “impressive personality and impressive player” and “a leader in our team”.
It is only a pity Wiegman did not get a chance to field her here and was then robbed of a greater glimpse of James, who she said suffered a “small moment on her leg”.
“We just didn’t want to take any risk so we took her out straight away,” she added.
At the 2023 World Cup in Australia James was constantly the game-changer but there is also the question of whether she can stay fit given her persistent injury struggles – the same applies to Fran Kirby, who withdrew from this squad. Both are capable of knitting it all together but Russo and Mead showed why they are just as pivotal.
Could you get a more popular goalscorer?
Keira Walsh finally has her first #Lionesses goal on her 83rd appearance!
#ITVFootball | #ENGBEL pic.twitter.com/i5fXj6XeJn
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) April 4, 2025
Regardless, England are capable of finding a way, whether through Millie Bright’s bundled second or the third converted by Aggie Beever-Jones from a brilliant team move. Mead will get the credit for an inch-perfect assist but she had also combined exquisitely with Keira Walsh for a deft one-two in the build-up.
Wiegman was delighted that Beever-Jones had her debut international goal – even if it was eclipsed by Walsh scoring for the first ever time in an England shirt, on her 83rd cap. Jess Park had issued a reminder that she too is part of that attacking conundrum, cruising free of Belgium’s defence to slot past Nicky Evrard for the fourth.
In one sense, Belgium had been guilty of falling on their own sword. They describe their famous victory over England in October 2023 as “one of the most beautiful chapters in our history”, so their wing-backs were perhaps a little too expansive and ambitious, playing into England’s hands.
The two sides will meet again on Tuesday in Leuven, another match England have to take seriously – not only because of their humbling on their last trip there.
Their finishing position in the Nations League will decide their place in the league system for World Cup qualifiers.
More pressing is an anxious wait on James, which will be shared by Chelsea – they face Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals in a fortnight.
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