Lucy Bronze: ‘Incredible’ veteran full back remains key player for England
Lucy Bronze made her 145th senior appearance for England on Saturday but few of her performances could have been better than this superb all-round display.
The 34-year-old right-back scored the first goal with a fine header in the 23rd minute after a perfectly timed run to meet Taylor Hinds’ cross to reward England’s early pressure.
With 12 minutes left in the game, with tempers on edge as the Lionesses failed to increase their advantage, Bronze volleyed home a perfect cross to Georgia Stanway to claim three World Cup qualification points against Iceland.
Bronze showed why she remains the gold standard for the Lionesses on and off the pitch on the day she became the third most capped England player of all time, surpassing Karen Carney.
“He’s an incredible person,” England manager Sarina Wiegman said in the post-match media conference when asked by BBC Sport about Bronze’s performance.
“He puts himself out there and has a lot of football intelligence, helping the team on and off the field.”
Bronze has been England’s undisputed first choice at right-back for over a decade, but questions have begun to swirl about his succession planning.
She will be 35 years old at the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, and Maya le Tissier started at right-back against Ukraine in midweek.
But Bronze’s display at the City Ground was excellent. She took five shots, completed 49 passes with 91% accuracy, and defensively helped Iceland keep a single shot on target – which Hannah Hampton brilliantly saved in her only significant move.
It showed that Bronze was an integral part of Wiegman’s England.
“He plays a big role in the team; he wants to participate in the World Cup,” the Dutch coach said.
“At the same time, he’s still getting minutes, but if you behave like that on the pitch, you’re still very important.”
The woman who Bronze surpassed in the England appearance rankings heaped praise on the two-time European champion.
“That’s why Lucy is in the team,” Carney told ITV Sport. “He has that mentality, he always demands more and that’s why we won two Euros. He knows what we need to take it to the next level towards winning the World Cup.”
“I love that he still demands more, he is still an absolute winner.”
