Emotional Leah Williamson hails history-making Lionesses after Euro 2025 victory | OneFootball

Lionesses captain Leah Williamson could not hide her emotions when reflecting on England’s historic Euros victory after beating Spain on penalties in Basel.

Sarina Wiegman’s side have written themselves into the history books, becoming the first English side to win a major tournament on foreign soil.

Williamson, along with a small group of her teammates, has lifted both the Euros trophy and the Champions League with Arsenal in just two months.

“If I reflect, I can’t think too much about it or I’ll cry,” Williamson said when asked about her achievements of late. “If I reflect on the last couple of years since that last win [Euro 2022], I’m proud, that’s what I’ll take away for myself, I’m just proud.

“When the game started today, the first half took a lot of defensive actions and they went our way and we were in the right place at the right time and I did get a feeling from the Champions League final. I thought, this is our day today, so to that, what a year.

“My cousin texted me before the game today and she said how lucky that these finals become the norm, in terms of how it feels and how lucky we are to be a part of something like that, and I share that sentiment.”

The historic success of Euro 2022 amounted to a boom in the popularity and investment into women’s football in England.

Having now backed up their triumph and lifted the trophy once more, Williamson is looking forward to watching the knock-on effects of the Lionesses’ historic achievement.

“It’s so hard to get to a final and the success of the pitch is normally already done, but to then win, you just take it to another level,” she said. “I don’t know what the effect will be, but I’m looking forward to seeing it.

“I think we dedicate this win to everybody that’s involved. The staff don’t get enough credit, they work so hard for us, our teammates, everybody pulls through.

“Then I think the whole nation, the people that stayed with us. We didn’t have an easy start to the tournament. It feels like we played five finals since that game [against France] and today was the one that brought the trophy home.”