England’s Euros title may be less than 48 hours old, but the Lionesses already have their sights set on a bigger trophy.
“I feel on top of Europe, but there’s still one more we can get our hands on,” defender Lucy Bronze said during Monday’s celebration at Trafalgar Square.
“There’s a little star missing from our crest on the England shirt,” added Bronze, referencing the star that sits on a team’s crest to signify a World Cup victory. “That’s definitely a mission of ours to get that star there.”
England sits atop its World Cup qualifying group and needs just one point in the final UEFA group-stage window to seal a trip to Australia and New Zealand for the tournament next summer.
The Lionesses could get that point in early September against Austria or Luxembourg. If England lost both of its final two group-stage matches, it would advance to a playoff in October.
The team’s confidence in its ability to qualify, however, is made clear by its announcement Tuesday. England has scheduled a match against the USWNT in October – during the UEFA playoff window.
Ella Toone echoed Bronze’s statement, saying the team “wants more.”
“We always want more,” said Toone. “We’ve been waiting a long, long time for this and now we’ve got it, we want more.
“We want to go to the World Cup and do exactly what we’ve just done.”
England remains undefeated under manager Sarina Wiegman, who has 18 wins and two ties in 20 matches with the Lionesses.