Kelly double helps England Lionesses beat Belgium to retain Arnold Clark Cup

Before the confetti rained down on England’s celebrations, leaving some players briefly entangled, Lucy Bronze could not resist kissing the harp-shaped Arnold Clark trophy. Her teammates soon followed her to collect their medals for the on-pitch presentation before Leah Williamson, the captain, hoisted the trophy aloft. Chloe Kelly was awarded the golden boot, Lauren James the player of the tournament award.

The Lionesses will hope for a repeat of these scenes on the other side of the world in July, when the World Cup finals take place in Sydney. For England it’s another piece of silverware, but attention will turn quickly towards winning the biggest prize in the game.

A 6-1 rout of Belgium, their third win in six days, ensured the Lionesses retained their crown with ease. Of course, there is a bigger picture at play: they have two matches and one international window to navigate before the World Cup comes into focus. The warm-down only served to further stoke the excitement among a sold-out crowd, with Arsenal’s Lotte Wubben-Moy soaking up applause at the end of every sprint. Kelly, the hero at Wembley last year, scored either side of Williamson’s powerful header to set England en route to victory before an own goal by Julie Biesmans and a close-range finish by Bronze. A spectacular stoppage-time strike by the substitute Elena Dhont proved a consolation, even more so when Williamson side-footed in her second of the night from outside the box to cap the scoring.

Belgium, powerless to extract the ball from England’s grasp, barely set foot inside the England half. England never looked like losing. In truth, it has been that way for some time. They last swallowed defeat almost two years ago, in April 2021, in a