Pride and joy: England lauds Lionesses

LONDON — England's victorious Lionesses celebrated their dramatic Women's Euro 2025 triumph along with tens of thousands of ecstatic fans outside Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

Sarina Wiegman's team successfully defended its European crown by beating world champion Spain on penalties in the Swiss city of Basel on Sunday, sparking an outpouring of national joy.

The Lionesses flew home on Monday and were immediately whisked to 10 Downing Street, the working home of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for a reception.

On Tuesday, it was the turn of supporters to celebrate the astonishing success of the team, which repeatedly defied the odds during its run to glory in Switzerland.

Shortly after midday, under gray skies, two open-top buses emblazoned with the words "European Champions" set off from the bottom of The Mall, the road leading to Buckingham Palace.

Captain Leah Williamson held the Euro 2025 trophy aloft and supporters responded with cheers and by waving their flags in a sea of red and white.

The decibel count rose as the bus crawled along the road, lined with Union flags and the St George's Cross, led by a military band. The Football Association said at least 65,000 were packed onto The Mall.

The huge crowds then swarmed down the road toward the palace — King Charles III's official London residence — to party with the squad, with two large screens showing tournament highlights.

'Still we rise'

An emotional Williamson was first to speak from a stage at the Queen Victoria Memorial, saying she had been crying all the way down The Mall.

"There are lots of ways to win a football match, and we repeatedly did it the hard way," she said. "But, I think that you can see how much we care about playing for England, how much we love it.

" (Victory in) 2022 was a fairy tale, but this feels really hard-earned, and we're very proud of ourselves."

The skipper said the team had overcome adversity, including defeat to France in its opening match: "Nasty things to deal with, and still we rise."

She added: "Everything we do, obviously, we do it for us and our team, but we do it for the country, and we do it for the young girls.

"This job never existed 30 or 40 years ago, and we're making history every single step. Thank you so much, thank you so much for being with us. Stay with us, this story's not done yet."

Wiegman told the cheering crowds that her players "showed up" when they had to, before enjoying a dance on stage with Nigerian singer Burna Boy.

"I had hoped for a little less chaos, but they didn't keep their promise to finish things quicker," she said.

"But, as we always have a plan, and we try to execute that, and the players on the pitch, and we just kept having hope all the time, and belief, and they just showed up when it was really necessary."

Williamson lifted the trophy as red fireworks were let off before Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline was played over the speakers.

Fans had queued for hours to celebrate their heroines — the first senior England team to win a major soccer tournament on foreign soil.

Signs included: "In Sarina we trust", and "so nice, we had to win it twice".

Among those in the crowd was Princess Beatrice, the king's niece and ninth in line to the throne, who was celebrating with her family.

Sue Plummer, 57, a company director from the Isle of Wight, said: "They're (England) just the epitome of British resilience and resolve.

"It's nice to see the spectrum of people that have come out especially for this."

London retail worker Naomi Rumsby, 30, said she used to play soccer.

"It's nice to see so many people here," she said. "I never thought it would be like this. It's nice to see so many little kids with the players' names on the back of their shirts."

Victory in Switzerland was sweet revenge for Wiegman's team, who suffered bitter defeat against Spain in the World Cup final two years ago.

As Wiegman rose to speak to those gathered in the Downing Street garden, she joked: "I have to make my apologies (for giving) you lots of heart attacks. You all made it through, and we made it through, and that's why we're here now.

"The team is just incredible, we won the Euros, but making the final, we're already legendary, what the team has done and the team behind the team.

"Thank you so much for having us here. It's very, very special to be here, and to be in this very nice garden with the way you set it up with all these pictures, it makes it more special, it's the first moment it sinks in a little bit, because it was surreal what happened last night."

"This incredible team won the Euros and then immediately sent a letter to you, the government, asking for attention and asking for access to football for all girls," Wiegman said.

"Steps have been taken, but we're not done yet, we have to keep moving forward and we need a little bit more.

"We need some more investment," she said. "England is up there, but England needs to stay the trailblazer, it needs to be the big example. The players first, but also the FA, the clubs, the government, the country, the fans.

"Let's keep being the trailblazers."

AFP