England through to Women’s World Cup after unbelievable 10-0 victory: ‘All hail the Lionesses’
The England team celebrates in Trafalgar Square after they won the Women’s Euro 2022. (Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The England women’s football team has qualified for the 2023 World Cup after an incredible 10-0 victory against Luxembourg.
The Lionesses secured their spot at next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with an impressive 10 wins from as many games.
The final qualifying match against Luxembourg on Tuesday (6 September), saw eight players score goals, with Euro 2022 Golden Boot winner Beth Mead scoring one, and Manchester United’s Ella Toone, who scored one of the winning goals in the Euros final, also bagging a goal.
The Lionesses’ manager, Sarina Wiegman, said she did not think the team’s qualifying campaign “could be much better” after they completed their set of wins with zero goals conceded.
The team’s victory comes after the Lionesses became Euro 2022 champions, bringing home the first major trophy for an England senior football team in 56 years.
A record crowd of 87,192 people watched the team beat Germany 2-1 after extra time at Wembley on 31 August.
Broadcaster Clare Balding praised the team for their moment in football history, tweeting: “What a team, what a performance, what a moment for women’s sport and for football in this country. All hail Lionesses.”
🔟 games
🔟 wins
0️⃣ goals conceded🙌 @FIFAWWC qualification complete. pic.twitter.com/eWE3IcBwA5
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) September 6, 2022
The women’s World Cup will be taking place between 20 July and 20 August next year.
Speaking about the campaign to reach the tournament, Wiegman said: “I don’t think it could be much better than this, so [I’m] really happy.”
She added: “After the Euros it always seems to be a hard one, but I think the team has done a tremendous job coming out of the summer.
“We played two games like this and we knew tonight we were so much better but we had to keep the tempo in the game, and I think that’s what we did in most parts of the game.
“We knew we would win the game so we wanted to try some things out and some players.”
The Lionesses’ next game will be against the United States in a friendly match at Wembley on 7 October.
“Everything we do now is preparing for the World Cup,” Wiegman said.
“Against the United States, it’s going to be a loud night – an exciting night – and we are looking forward to seeing if we can sell-out Wembley.”
