England 7-0 Jamaica
By Ella McShane at the Kong Power Stadium for Impetus (29/06/2025)
England had the perfect send-off to the 2025 Euros by beating Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz 7-0 in front of a 26,000 strong crowd in Leicester.
England set the tone for a possession-based approach with the ball controlled along the backline, notably going back and forth between Leah Williamson and Alex Greenwood.
With the ball not leaving England’s half for the opening ten minutes, a goal felt imminent – however a frustrating number of uncapitalised chances began to grow. Ella Toone put England’s growing frustrations to bed when a rebound off Georgia Stanway saw the ball land in an open pocket of space. Toone’s powerful shot from outside the box found net, and opened the scoring.
The ball remained locked in England’s half with Chantelle Swaby being the Reggae girl to initiate Jamaica’s admirable threat in the first half, by intercepting England’s efforts in the attacking midfield. Shortly after, Kalyssa Van Zanten asserted her dominance and broke England’s backline lock with a powerful stride up the midfield.
A goal did come for Reggae Girlz, however it was ruled out for offside. The goal seemed to wake England’s defenders up – and they did not falter again throughout the 90 minutes.
Lucy Bronze was the Lioness to counter the Reggae girl’s first half warnings. The defender’s prompt high press into the right-hand side of the box allowed her to receive a clean ariel cross from Carter positioned at the diagonal opposing corner as she made it 2-0.
Toone’s brace rounded off the Lionesses scoring for the first half. Toone was in the perfect position to exploit the space to her right – she got her second and England’s third off the crossbar.
England opened the second half in a similar fashion, with possession concentrated at the back line and the tempo slowed in comparison. As the half-progressed fluidity in transitions increased among both sides. England’s strong presence in the final third resulted in an ultimately dominant half.
Throughout the second half, the Lionesses’ high press never waned, and they forced Jamaica keeper Brooks into a spectacular double save or two. However, a newly-returned Georgia Stanway looked hungry for a goal, and she did not have to wait long as she was given the space to launch a rocket into the top right-hand corner.
England’s crowded final third proved profitable yet again when a collected cross from Lauren James met the head of Alessia Russo, positioned in a spacious pocket right on the goal line to make it 5-0.
Substitute Aggie Beever-Jones had a number of quick attempts and eventually shot home. A stride up the centre midfield concluded with sweeping forward slide took the score line to a hefty 6-0
Beth Mead’s last-minute effort provided the goal that ultimately saw the Lionesses off to the Euros. A dynamic press forward completed with a swift cross into the box.
TEAMS: ENGLAND (4-2-3-1): Williamson, Hampton, Bronze, Walsh, Greenwood, Stanway, Mead, Toone, Hemp, Carter, Russo. Substitutes: Charles, James, Le Tissier, Moorhouse, Clinton, Morgan, Agyemang, Kelly, Beever-Jones, Park, Keating, Wubben-Moy.
Goal scorers: Toone (10’, 45+4’), Bronze (32’), Stanway (59’), Russo (71’), Beever-Jones (85’), Mead (90+6)
JAMAICA (4-3-3): Swaby, Brooks, Swaby, McKenna, Van Zanten, Cameron, Simmonds, Primus, Adamolekun, Ingleton. Substitutes: Morgan, Mensah, Cardoza, Sampson, Bailey, Walker, Mitchell, Thomas, Blades.
Referee: Franziska Wildfeuer
Attendance: 26,042
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