England Lionesses star speaks out about Euro 2025 win - 'I don't want to do that again'

Lionesses hero Georgia Stanway has admitted there is one part of England's Euro 2025 triumph she never wants to go through again. Sarina Wiegman's side defended their continental crown after beating world champions Spain on penalties amid incredible drama.

The Lionesses certainly did it the hard way in Switzerland. After losing their opening match to France, they were under pressure straight away, but defeated the Netherlands and Wales to reach the knockout phase in second place. That is where the drama really began as England kept plucking victory from the jaws of defeat. In the last eight, the Lionesses trailed Sweden 2-0 deep into the second half, only to fight back and force extra-time and an epic penalty shootout, which they won 3-2.

England looked to be heading out again in the semi-finals as they trailed Italy in added time, only to force extra-time with a 96th-minute strike and then win the tie at the end of extra-time. The Lionesses were again on the back foot against Spain in a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final.

However, Alessia Russo's second-half strike forced extra-time, with Chloe Kelly firing home the winning penalty in the shootout. Across their three knockout stage matches, England were in front for less than five minutes, four minutes 52 seconds to be exact.

While proud of how England won the Euros, Stanway, 26, would rather do it in a less stressful manner in the future. The Bayern Munich midfielder told The Guardian: "I don't want to experience that again. It was such a stressful tournament.

"But it also proves that, technically, you don't have to play the best football and you don't have to be winning in the first half or even the second half. You only need to be leading for one second."

Having won the Euros twice, Stanway is now targeting the big one, the Women's World Cup, which next takes place in Brazil in 2027. She added: "Win the World Cup and I'll happily retire because then that's all my dreams come true.

"It would have been really nice to do it in Australia but when you're beaten by the better team, like Spain, you accept the situation. So we need to continue to grow and adapt and evolve. If we do that then there's no reason why we can't become world champions."

Many of Stanway's England team-mates have been in action on the opening weekend of the Women's Super League. Defending champions Chelsea opened their campaign with a 2-1 win over Manchester City on Friday, while Arsenal saw off London City Lionesses 4-1 on Saturday.