Sarina Wiegman hails Lionesses for playing their 'England game' in 5-0 UEFA Nations League rout over Belgium
Published 04/04/2025 at 23:09 GMT+1
Sarina Wiegman's England beat Belgium 5-0 to go top of their UEFA Nations League Group A3 on Friday, a point ahead of world champions Spain. Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright gave England a 2-0 half-time lead, before Aggie Beever-Jones and Keira Walsh netted their first senior international goals, either side of a Jess Park strike. England take on Belgium in the reverse fixture on Tuesday.
‘Three difficult games’ – Wiegman braced for ‘tough’ but ‘exciting’ Euro 2025 group stages
Video credit: SNTV
Sarina Wiegman praised England for "playing their game" and "keeping it simple" after the Lionesses dismantled Belgium 5-0 in the UEFA Nations League at Ashton Gate.
Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright each scored first-half headers to give England a comfortable half-time lead, before substitute Aggie Beever-Jones added a third with her maiden Lionesses goal.
Jess Park subsequently slotted home England’s fourth and Keira Walsh completed the rout with her first-ever senior international goal on her 83rd cap.
The result sees England go top of Nations League Group A3, a point ahead of Spain, who beat Portugal 4-2 in the evening’s other encounter.
Speaking to ITV at full-time, Wiegman said: "What I really like too, is that we kept it simple, so we didn't stop playing our own game. We kept playing our game, our England game, and it looks easy, but it is pretty hard and I really enjoyed that.
"I said to the team to keep it simple and stay together and everyone came on the pitch and was really ready to go and showed up.
"Tuesday’s going to be a different game. So [it’s important] we don’t just feel we’re in the best possible place. We also have to improve things.
"Belgium’s a totally different opponent than Spain was and Portugal is, so we know where we’re at and what we want to improve and we’re working on it every day.
"We need to keep having these connections because I do feel something’s happening, and it’s getting closer."
On whether something’s changed in the new year, Weigman added: "Yeah I think so. When we played in October and November of last year, we were trying out things and used it as an opportunity to take risks.
"We showed some vulnerability then because we didn’t do things well enough as a team. It’s not nice, but it’s okay to learn and, of course, now every game’s competitive, you have to win because you want to get in the best position to qualify for the World Cup too."
Meanwhile, Walsh spoke about netting her first ever England goal.
Speaking to ITV, Walsh said: "It was really nice to score a lot of goals tonight. It was a great team performance. It was nice to see us playing free-flowing football.
"I'm really excited [to score]. It took a big deflection but a goal is a goal. All the girls are super happy for me, which is a nice feeling. A few of them like to remind me how long it's taken me but it's great to be off the mark."
On where tonight ranks for her in an England shirt, Walsh added: "It's up there as one of my favourite games. We played a lot of good attacking football and it was a nice evening to be part of."
England will take on Belgium once more in the return fixture on Tuesday.
Watch and stream Premier League and UEFA Champions League football live on TNT Sports and discovery+
React to this story
Share this article