Sarina Wiegman confirmed that captain Leah Williamson rolled her ankle during England’s chaotic Euro 2025 win over Sweden and said the defender will be assessed before the semi-final against Italy on Tuesday.
The Lionesses fought from two goals down and then survived a thrilling penalty shoot-out to keep their European title defence alive in Zurich but Wiegman may be left counting the cost of the victory after Williamson limped off in extra time.
The centre-back stayed down after England cleared a corner and appeared to land awkwardly. Williamson attempted to play but realised she was not at “100 per cent” and was replaced before the penalty drama unfolded.
“She rolled her ankle. She’ll be assessed tomorrow,” Wiegman said in her press conference. “I don’t know what it is right now. She couldn’t stay on the pitch so we had to take her off.”
Williamson, who remained on the sidelines for England’s penalty shoot-out, told BBC One that she wasn’t sure how serious the injury could be but said she had to put the team above herself.
“It wasn’t about me [tonight] and a game like that requires you to be at 100 per cent,” Williamson said. “It wasn’t the time to stay on the pitch, but I don’t know.”
Lauren James and Lucy Bronze also appeared to be limping, after staying on for extra time but Wiegman alleviated any further concerns by suggesting it was just fatigue.
Bronze, though, had strapping around her right leg during the game and walked through the mixed zone area in Zurich with ice on her right thigh after playing through pain to score the decisive penalty in the shoot-out.
“I just felt a little bit tight at the end of the game and I thought, I just need to get through to make sure I can keep going,” Bronze said. The right back removed the strapping on her leg before scoring her penalty.
“I thought, it’s going to hinder me in a penalty so then, I didn’t expect it to go to the sixth penalty, so I didn’t take it off and then it was my penalty and I thought, I need to take this off. I’m going to actually smack it.”
Wiegman reserved special praise for Bronze’s “resilience and fight” and said she had never before seen a player defy injury to score such an important penalty.
“Lucy Bronze is just one of a kind, I have never, ever seen this before in my life,” Wiegman said. “I’m a very lucky person that I’ve worked with so many incredible people and incredible football players, and there are so, so many, but what she does and her mentality, and how she did that penalty and the goal, at the far post, she gets it in the net.
“But that’s not what defines her. What defines her is that resilience, that fight. I think the only way to get her off the pitch is in a wheelchair.”
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