Women's World Cup
Charlotte Harpur
Sept. 13, 2025
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Alessia Russo’s goal for England against France at Euro 2025 was disallowed for a marginal offside ruling

Normally, after a match, England would sit in rows, reviewing film. But the session after France was different. The chairs were arranged in a big circle and Wiegman placed a stool in the middle. She told the players she was going to be vulnerable and encouraged the team to do the same.

One by one, players expressed their feelings. “It wasn’t even tactical, it was just the connections,” says Bronze. “There were a lot of frank conversations. It allowed us to get our frustrations from the France game off our chest and move forward.”

England responded with a 4-0 win against the Netherlands. Bronze went about her business quietly, making interceptions, recycling possession and reading the game. “I enjoy the calculated risk,” she says. In the 6-1 win over Wales, her high positioning helped England move further up the pitch.

England finished second in the group behind France, setting up a quarter-final with Sweden. But the Lionesses started poorly and were 2-0 down within 25 minutes.

“I thought, ‘What have we done? We’ve got ourselves into a right little mess’, she says.” Esme Morgan replaced Jess Carter in the 70th minute and handed a note to Bronze.

 Morgan brings the note to Bronze from Wiegman during the Sweden quarter-final (Maryam Majd/Getty Images)

It outlined a change in formation. Later, Wiegman asked Bronze if she had understood all the different colours and arrows on the diagram.

“I said, ‘Sarina, we were losing 2-0. I didn’t have time to recognise that it was green, red, blue. I saw the formation and I knew what you were thinking’.”

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England ended the game with a makeshift midfield of Grace Clinton and Beth Mead. When Keira Walsh was forced off with cramp, Bronze told Mead she needed to cover Walsh. Mead replied: “I don’t even know how to cover myself right now’.”

“It would be such a funny game if we were all mic’d up,” says Bronze. “I remember shouting at (goalkeeper) Hannah Hampton: ‘You need to do it this way’ and she said: ‘Yeah, I know, I’m trying, I’m just so p***ed off!’

“I said: ‘Hannah, we’re all f***ing p***ed off. Just do it’.”

Right on cue, Chloe Kelly whips in a ball from the left. Bronze, who found herself unmarked at the back post throughout the game, ghosts in.

“I remember watching the ball float over,” she says. “The goal was completely empty, the goalkeeper had come out. I really crouched down to head it in. I was thinking… ‘Just get it on target. If this spoons off your head, we’re done for. This is now or never’.”

Bronze taps the spacebar on the laptop to pause the clip. “Look, look how open the goal is!… I was so happy. I kept saying to Hempo: ‘Just hit it back post, trust me, I’ll get there’. Finally, someone hit it back post.”

Bronze celebrated by thwacking the advertising board with her right leg — not the one with her tibia fracture, that is her left.

“I just absolutely booted it because I was angry, I was happy, I was just everything.”

Michelle Agyemang’s 81st-minute strike drew England level, sending the tie into extra time. In the 117th minute, Hampton and Alex Greenwood collided defending a corner. While Mehta treated Hampton’s bloody nose and the physio assessed Greenwood, Bronze grabbed the physio tape and strapped her own leg.

It was the most viewed BBC Sport clip (12.5million views) from Euro 2025, but this was normal for Bronze. She often strapped her ankles or knee, as did other players such as former England team-mate Jill Scott. After a clearance two minutes before, she felt her adductor, a muscle she has torn many times. Bronze just needed to numb the pain.

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“Women’s football has not always had enough physios,” she says. “I knew exactly what I needed, so I just did it myself, as tight as I could, right on the spot.”

this was so crazy pic.twitter.com/YMm7j6YOa4

— nad (@obatlleah)

Bronze made sure to support her team-mates (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

England practise penalties in five-a-side training games and after sessions. But Bronze is usually in the ice bath by then. She only practised two penalties during the Euros and although she has practised her process 100 times, she had never taken one for the Lionesses, nor in her 220 club appearances across England, France and Spain’s top flight.

No better moment than a sudden-death shootout to break your duck.

The walk to the penalty spot didn’t feel long for Bronze, partly because she was distracted by the strapping. “I started walking and I thought I can’t kick the ball with this on my leg,” she says.

As she walked, Bronze unwound the white tape, flinging it behind her in dramatic fashion, much to Walsh’s and Williamson’s amusement.

 Bronze removed her leg tape before taking a penalty kick against Sweden (Maryam Majd/Getty Images)

“I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing,” she smiles. As Hampton handed her the ball just outside the box, Bronze told her she would score, Hampton would save the next, and England would win. Now that she had said it out loud, she had to fulfil her promise.

Bronze’s process revolves around counting. “It calms me,” she says. “I love maths. I really like even numbers. There’s balance. I find the dot of the ball, put the ball down, step next to it…”

Bronze plants her left foot underneath the hotel room table, reliving the moment.

“I take six steps because six is my favourite number, four back and two to the side, it’s like a right-angled triangle. It’s the first time I have ever said that.”

Why did she pat the grass before her kick?

“To make sure I didn’t slip. Beth should have done that in the final, hey!” Bronze chuckles. We watch the clip with no sound, but you can see her counting, and she says the numbers out loud.

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“One, two, three, four, (pause) five, six to the side. Then, stop, I stand still, I wait, take two steps and run.”

When did she decide which way to shoot?

“Once I put the ball down,” says Bronze. “I didn’t want to go either side because my body… to step down with my left hurt, to pass with my right hurt. I thought I’m going to have to do the most straightforward penalty, down the middle as hard as you can.”

Bronze hammered the ball into the back of the net and let out a guttural roar. She picked the ball up and slammed it into the ground.