England 6–0 Portugal
by Ava-Marianne Elliott (30/5/25)
Above: England celebrate last night. Photo: Christine Oughton for Impetus.
Under the lights at Wembley, England were ruthless. The Lionesses comfortably saw off visitors Portugal in a win that saw them retain second-place in their Nations League group, setting them up nicely for their away trip to group leaders, Spain, on Tuesday.
This coming summer is a busy one for the Lionesses. The time left on the clock until kick-off in Zurich is quickly passing. Just 36 days remain until England play their opening game of the tournament, facing France at Stadion Letzigrund. The Lionesses will hope to come out roaring and set the tone for their campaign in the early stages as the reigning European Champions.
There was a huge pressure on Wiegman’s side to deliver a result, as this fixture came just three days after Mary Earps’ shock departure. The loss of the keeper sent shock waves through the fan base, the decision to retire from the international stage with immediate effect coming a month before Switzerland, but this win was more the convincing.
The impact of Aggie Beever-Jones
With Alessia Russo out with a calf-injury, England needed to opt for another option in the nine role, and Aggie Beever-Jones more than stepped up. The 21-year-old ran riot at Wembley, consistently outsmarting the Portugal defence and achieving a hat-trick in just 33 minutes. The forward continues to shine brighter with every passing game,
Aggie Beever-Jones etched her name into the history books with that performance. The 21-year-old forward was a relentless burden for Portugal, constantly creating the right space at the right moment to achieve a hat-trick in just 33 minutes. Whilst the rest of the squad were flawless, Beever-Jones was on a completely different level.
With usual starter Alessia Russo out of commission with a calf injury, Sarina Wiegman opted for a front three of Beth Mead, Beever-Jones and Lauren Hemp. The trio worked impeccably, with Hemp and Mead’s work down the channels proving to be a huge problem that Portugal just weren’t able to match. With Beever-Jones leading the line, the excess of 48,000 fans were certainly in for a masterclass.
There was a huge uproar from the stands when she opened the scoring in just the third minute, outsmarting the opposition backline and finding herself the perfect pocket of space to send a shot past Inês Pereira and into the bottom left-corner.
Her second goal was the third of the half. The Portugal defence were trailing, and a brilliant cross from Lucy Bronze allowed Beever-Jones to send a well-executed header into the back of the net.
Beever-Jones’ third came in the 33rd minute, where she successfully bagged a hat-trick on her Wembley debut, making her just the second England women’s player to do so. Captain Leah Williamson’s incredible vision for a long pass found the Chelsea starlet, who took a couple of touches to bypass the defence before rocketing a third into the net.
After that performance, it feels as if she’s cemented her place at EURO 2025.
Impact substitutions
This time six months ago, Chloe Kelly’s space in Switzerland was hugely in doubt. The winger was struggling to gain any game time at Manchester City under Gareth Taylor, and seriously considered taking a break from the football scene. Flash forward to the present, Kelly is back at Wembley, scoring just five minutes after coming off the bench.
The ball started with Alex Greenwood, who had only just made a return to the squad after injury and came off the bench in a triple change alongside Kelly and Maya Le Tissier. The City centre-back made a clever pass that found Mead out on the wing, who had been left to work with too much space. Re-energised and raring to go, Kelly was able to get on the end of Mead’s cross for a great header, making it six for England.
Another positive change for England was made in the 75th minute, when Keira Walsh made way for a Georgia Stanway return. Stanway has been sidelined since late January with an injury to her lateral collateral ligament in her knee, under-going surgery and leaving a question mark over her head for this summer. Her return bolsters the midfield selection, giving England another strong option for the Euros.
The rest of the action
Jess Carter was another figure in that England lineup that performed particularly well tonight. Featuring at left-back, Carter was crucial going forwards and in build-up sequences, pushing the team forwards. She also linked up well with Hemp on that left-hand side, overall instrumental, but especially in those first half goals.
England’s two other goals came from Bronze and Mead. The pair both had a faultless run, with Bronze pouncing on a blocked hit from Carter to secure the Lionesses second goal of the evening.
Mead was a creative and incredibly sharp figure amongst the squad, driving the attack. Her performance was capped with a well-taken goal, her movement to find the right position and pinpoint strike securing England’s fourth. She was the driving force behind the attacking momentum, pushing Portugal’s defence into error and working to ensure they couldn’t recover from the quick deficit.
Teams: ENGLAND (4-3-3): Hampton, Bronze, Carter, Walsh, Williamson, Morgan, Mead, Clinton, Beever-Jones, Park, Hemp. Substitutes: Charles, Keating, Le Tissier (57’), Greenwood (57’), Stanway (75’), Kelly (57’), Kearns, Parris, Kirby (67’), Moorhouse, Wubben-Moy, Agyemang.
PORTUGAL (3-5-2): Pereira, Amado, Jacinto, Norton, Borges, T. Pinto, F. Pinto, Dolores Silva (c), Costa, Diana Silva, Capeta Substitutes: Morais, Cota-Yarde, Fonseca, Lopes, Ribeiro, J. Silva (46’), Faria (69’), Mendes (86’), Correira (69’) Dias, Encarnacao, De Freitas Martins Lino.
REFEREE: Frida Klarlund
Attendance: 48,531.
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