Leah Williamson believes England's 'vulnerability' aided Euro 2025 victory

Leah Williamson believes it took vulnerability from England to be able to unlock the belief that saw them win back-to-back European Championships in Basel.

The Lionesses came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 with world champions Spain at St. Jakob Park, before defeating them 3-1 on penalties.

It saw Williamson lift her second European title as England captain, becoming the only senior England captain to do so on foreign soil.

But while buzzwords like resilience and a never-say-die attitude have followed their tournament trajectory, the 28-year-old suggests it was the willingness of her side to open themselves up to a belief in their own ability that proved the real key to success.

“You can have all of those words, and sport has all of those words circulating all the time and then you have people that are brave and put that into action and decide that you’re going to go for it,” Williamson explained.

“You leave yourself vulnerable and all of those things. If you really, really try hard and it’s not quite enough, that’s an awful feeling.

“To put yourself out there like that, the reward is so great and we were brave enough to do it. I think that’s the key to the team.

“Sarina [Wiegman] believes in us so much, it’s hard not to believe that yourself. She said the same thing as she said before, ‘We don’t have to win, we want to win, and we’re capable of winning so it’s up to you girls,’ and we did it.”

England had made a habit of coming back from behind, closing a two-goal deficit against Sweden in the quarter-finals before coming back from 1-0 down against both Italy and Spain.

But having lost their opening match against France, England had played must-win football all from the outset and while it may not always have been