“We deserve to be winning all the time” – Lauren Hemp and The Lionesses on their back-to-back Euros triumph | OneFootball

Following England’s victory over Spain in the final of Euro 2025, Lauren Hemp said that England deserved their title as queens of Europe.

Niamh Charles, Beth Mead, Ella Toone and Jess Carter all echoed that sentiment in Basel. This is the reaction of The Lionesses after becoming champions of the continent.

Lauren Hemp

Hemp, together with Alessia Russo, created problems for Spain from the start.

“It’s hard to describe, I’m speechless, it’s incredible,” Hemp said. “The fight this team has shown from minute one of the tournament to now [having won the final], it’s incredible and it’s nothing short of what this group deserves.”

In the knock-out stages of the tournament, England were only ahead for a total of just under five minutes. “This group is so special, the grit, the determination we showed, it’s not luck. It doesn’t happen once, twice or three times for it to be luck. This is pure determination from this group. We’re all knackered, we’re all absolutely exhausted and we deserve moments like this. I’m so proud of the team,” Hemp said.

“I feel like this team has shown belief throughout every single fixture and even when it went to penalties, we all believed. That’s what’s so special about this group. I mean, whoever stepped up, we knew was going to score, but especially when Chloe [Kelly] stepped up for that fifth penalty, I knew it was going in and yeah, damn, it did.”

On the emotions she felt when Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty, she said: “I mean, pure joy. I was so speechless. It’s incredible and like I said, it’s what this team deserves. We deserve to be winning all the time and it’s incredible that it’s not only happened once, it’s happened twice and it’s staying home and hopefully long may it continue.

“[The atmosphere] was incredible. Every time we went forward, you could hear the crowd and it was such a good atmosphere. I couldn’t even hear my teammates next to me, so it was unbelievable. So, we hope we made so many more fans proud of us and back home as well. We know the support’s been incredible.”

She was asked if she and the team were aware of impact back home: “Yeah, I mean, being in the tournament is so hard. I try and stay off social media a lot because obviously it’s so hard to, I don’t know, every game’s different and so much that happens. I know as a group we all realise the difference it made to England and to football all around when we won the Euros in 2022, obviously, to now. We hope for that same to happen again. I’ve had so many messages today and so many messages tonight that my phone just keeps pinging. Thank you to everyone. I’ll get back to you at some point.”

Hemp has played with Kelly at Manchester City and for England, and had nothing but praise for her former club-teammate.

“She’s an incredible player and there’s nothing short of what she deserves as well,” Hemp said. “She’s incredible and she’s a great friend as well. Definitely when players are starting, she’s always so inspiring, motivational to all of us. For her to come on and get the moments, it’s so special for her. I hope she gets many more special moments in the future. But she’s someone we can count on. It’s amazing to have that in your team. You’ve seen the depth of this squad is incredible. Michelle being amazing as she is. I’m so glad the world has seen it and hopefully they’ll see it more in the future.”

Niamh Charles

Charles was subbed on for Lucy Bronze in the 106th minute, after Bronze was not able to continue due to injury. Charles was England’s third penalty taker, and scored.

“[Scoring the penalty was] unbelievable. Stressful, as has been almost every game, but to end it like that was unbelievable,” she said.

“Obviously I was on the pitch for the last game [against Sweden] when we had penalties but I never took one, so I’d kind of experienced it in that way a little bit. We work really hard on our penalty process and thankfully I just stuck to that and managed to block everything else out.”

Bronze had injured her knee during the match, but had played the entire tournament with a fractured tibia on her other leg. “It’s something we’ve known about in camp but I think she’s very good and she just gets on with it and no one really truly knows how much she’s dealing with,” Charles revealed. “To play on that is pretty incredible but if there was anyone to do it it would have been her.”

As far as Charles was concerned, Bronze’s performance was the definition of ‘proper English’. “Yeah proper proper English. Once we win we can talk about it but it’s absolutely job done first, and she’s a credit to that and an England legend.”

Despite going behind to a Mariona Caldentey header, there were no moments in the final when Charles thought England might lose. “No, I think that’s kind of been how we’ve experienced the whole tournament, 120 minutes – we were just saying we had that complete belief that however late it went, however long it went on it’s just the belief in the squad that we always had a moment in us and always had that fighting spirit. That’s something we’ve referenced so much, that proper English.”

To most of the team, the tournament felt like they were reading the script of a thoroughly dramatic soap opera. “Whenever you win it’s going to be a fairy-tale but I just think the way this tournament has gone it’s just been so, so dramatic and we’ve had to fight for literally everything, and it doesn’t get much more special than that in sports and the biggest moments, they’re the moments you dream about and they make you feel alive.”

Beth Mead & Ella Toone

Mead entered the field for Toone just before the end of regular time. The pair had both lost parents since the last European Championship triumph in 2022, giving them a special bond with one another come full-time.

“To be able to win back-to-back Euros, being able to share that moment tonight with Ella [Toone], we both had our mum and dad here last euros, they’re not here today, you go straight to the stands and have an emotional moment with her mum and my dad,” Mead said. “My mum did so much to get me here, so to be able to celebrate that. But the feeling to be able to do that, and the emotion that comes out, it’s not been easy, I’ve been Ella’s situation, being able to have to do that, people scrutinize you, but you’ve got so much going on as a person and as a human, and to be able to perform in the tournament, under the pressure that we have as England players, has been incredible.”

Toone added that: “My emotions are everywhere. It’s not sunk in yet. I’ve felt every single emotion out there tonight. We should be really proud of ourselves. Back-to-back Euro champions, it’s such an unbelievable feeling.

“We’ve wanted this so bad. We have been the same throughout this tournament, we’ve relied on every single player, players who’d come on and change the game, starting 11 players who worked their socks off, it was an amazing feeling and everyone absolutely grafted today. We deserved the win.”

Jess Carter

Carter had an incredibly difficult tournament, being on the receiving end of racial abuse before being dropped for the semi-final against Italy. However, she was back in the starting 11 for the final and put up an unbelievable performance.

“My previous manager at grassroots turned literally princesses into bulldozers. Not many of these girls get to see that princess side of me,” Carter said. “That’s what I tried to deliver today. I knew Spain were going to be hard to beat and I had to be on top form if we were going to come out with the chance of winning.”

Sarina Wiegman had decided to place Carter back into the starting lineup, with Esme Morgan retaking her seat on the bench. “We went into training and she just sat me down and said, I’m thinking of starting you on Sunday. I said: ‘Okay, thanks.’ After I was thinking in my head: ‘Are you sure?’ I can’t shout loud enough for Esme [Morgan]. She’s been an incredible team player, she was incredible when she came on the pitch. Every role she’s been given, she was outstanding. So to have that faith from Sarina [Wiegman] to put me back in the squad and that she believed that I could help this team to a trophy was amazing. It gave me a lot of confidence going into this game.”

Carter had a couple of laughs with the England manager throughout the match, something which she viewed as a return to normality.

“That is normally me,” the centre half said. “Throughout this tournament, I’ve not felt that and I’ve been really quite sad and disappointed at the fact that I’ve not been the relaxed Jess I know. I’m someone that is what will be will be. We go out there, give our all and either it’ll be enough or it won’t. That’s not how I’ve played this tournament until I got to this final where I thought I’m going to give it my all. If we lose, we lose and if we win great. In extra time Sarina was giving me a lot of information and we realised she just said a lot of words, and it was cool, like, we got this, and she’s been great.”

And on Bronze, she said, “Lucy, I have no words. Lucy Bronze is just, she’s incredible. Also so stubborn to continue playing when she can’t run or walk. She’ll find a way through. Stubborn is the first thing. But she’s a winner and winning is in her DNA. That’s what she wants to do. We all know that she’ll give absolutely everything for this team.”