England put eight past China in emphatic Wembley win
Georgia Stanway hat-trick caps off dominant night for European champions
On Saturday night, England finally got the raucous homecoming celebration they’ve been craving with an 8-0 win against China at Wembley.
The European champions scored five first-half goals in an embarrassingly one-sided friendly.
There was a stark competitive gap between England and their opponents, who are ranked 16th in the Fifa world rankings, but it was just the sort of celebratory, high-scoring performance that England have been craving.
It took just 12 minutes for Sarina Wiegman’s side to take the lead. Beth Mead bagged the opener with a slick touch and finish, her first goal for the Lionesses since they dismantled Wales in the Euro 2025 group stages.
Mead grabbed her second two minutes later, this time the move came from the left side. Lauren Hemp played it to Ella Toone on the edge of the box, and she cut inside and played a perfect ball to Mead, who guided it home at the back post.
Lauren Hemp bagged England’s third in the 16th minute. Georgia Stanway was the provider on this occasion with a simple pass across the goal, setting up the easiest of tap-ins for Hemp.
Fears that it was going to turn into the sort of scoreline we haven’t seen since the one-sided European qualifiers of yesteryear were confirmed when England went 4-0 up inside half an hour.
Stanway reacted to a punch from China goalkeeper Hongyan Pan and finished with ease. The Bayern Munich midfielder added to the tally with a penalty in the 38th minute before securing her first-ever England hat-trick not long after the restart.
Toone added a seventh for England in the 71st minute when she pounced on a defensive mishap from China before Alessia Russo finally got in on the action with England’s eighth of the night.
It’s perhaps no surprise that England dispatched China with such ease, given the 6-1 win that the Lionesses enjoyed when these two sides last met in the group stages of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Despite playing a back five, China were regularly caught out of position and allowed England acres of time and space on the right side of the pitch. Lucy Bronze and Mead were allowed to sit high and Bronze inverted so much that she was practically an extra attacking midfielder for the Lionesses.
China sat deep, as expected, but applied little pressure to the ball and lacked any defensive organisation.
The visitors enjoyed marginally more possession and territory in the second half when England took their foot off the gas, and through a combination of tiredness, complacency and necessity, allowed their opponents to actually take part in the game.
The introduction of the Uefa Nations League and the more strategic nature of England’s recent friendly fixtures has meant it’s been a while since England fans enjoyed a goal-fest on home soil quite like this.
Is it particularly good preparation for the 2027 Women’s World Cup? No. But it does feel like it dusts off the stodgy cobwebs of England’s attack in the last two years? Absolutely.
Youngsters left unused
Perhaps the only downside from this performance was the lack of game time for England’s true next generation.
Lucia Kendall, who was player of the match when England beat Australia last month, only got 25 minutes on Saturday night. Freya Godfrey, who was recently promoted from England’s Under 23s, wasn’t called upon by Wiegman, but could still feature against Ghana next week. Laura Blindkilde Brown also didn’t feature despite impressing with Manchester City in the WSL this season. The young midfielder also didn’t come on in either of England’s two friendlies in the last international window. Russo’s deputy up front, Aggie Beever-Jones, was a late substitute, replacing the Arsenal forward in the 85th minute.
It was the quietest of nights for England debutant Anna Moorhouse who was promoted into the starting role after Khiara Keating picked up a groin injury in training. England are already without number one Hannah Hampton who is recovering from injury. The Orlando Pride keeper Moorhouse looked a little nervous in the few moments she was called into action and could well face another untested evening when England face Ghana in Southampton on Tuesday night.
While China were being torn apart on the pitch, their fans attempted to keep spirits high for the Steel Roses at Wembley. The FA announced before kick-off that this fixture had sold out and 74,611 turned up on the night, which, given it was a friendly against a nation outside of Fifa’s top 10, is no mean feat.
What did Wiegman actually learn from such a one-sided game? The England manager praised her side’s fast start and confidence in front of goal, as well as the problems she caused the opposition, and was defensive of any calls to make more changes at the start of the second half.
“We have a squad of 25 and there’s many players that are really knocking on the door, everyone wants to play, and some players are just coming into the squad”, she said in the post-match press conference. “They’re really finding their feet and other players have played for us and have done a really good job at competing for starting positions, and that’s how I look at the game”.
Stanway also highlighted the aggressive nature of England’s performance, telling ITV: “the most important thing was that we started fast today. We got a few goals in the opening minutes and that’s game-changing.
“I am not known for scoring goals at the moment. I am happy with that and I am happy my family is here.”