Wubben-Moy on England's pre-World Cup momentum

As she heads into her first World Cup, Lotte Wubben-Moy feels that England can continue riding the wave of success that helped them win Euro 2022.

After the Lionesses lifted their first piece of major international silverware at Wembley 12 months ago, the women’s game has soared in stature and the feel-good factor behind the team has continued heading into this summer’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

That makes England one of the favourites for the competition, and despite that added expectation upon Sarina Wiegman’s squad, Lotte can’t wait to fulfil a childhood ambition by featuring in a World Cup.

“I’m extremely excited; you dream of moments like this as a kid,” Lotte said. “Having been to the Euros and getting a taste of what it’s like to be part of an international tournament, and then not only that but winning it, gives you a taste of what could be and perhaps what’s to come. 

“Winning is a habit, and at international level when you have the experience and the confidence and the know-how, often the rest falls into place. 

“I’m excited for the challenge – we know there will be highs and lows and being away from home it’s going to be even more important to be able to connect with our fans in an even more meaningful way. I see that as another challenge – we want to make sure everyone lives it with us, and it allows the game to continue to grow in the same way it did after the Euros but obviously knowing it’s going to be even harder.”

After the Haiti game, the Lionesses will face Katherine Kuhl’s Denmark before rounding off the group against China, meaning that even without Beth Mead and Leah Williamson in their ranks, many expect England to have a straight-forward passage into the knockouts.

However, as New Zealand showed against Norway in the opening game, anything can happen in tournament football, but Lotte believes that her side is taking nothing for granted. She also feels that personally, her experiences with club and country over the past year have equipped her for all possibilities when the tournament gets to its crunch stage.

“Looking at the group stage I think we will be prepared for every opponent we face,” she evaluated. “Then looking into the knockout stages it’s almost like we’ve been there before. But this is just a whole other beast going onto the international stage and playing teams we may not have ever really faced before. 

“We are super fortunate that we were able to compete at such a high level in Europe this season at Arsenal and that speaks a lot to the importance of international competition; not just for club but also for country. It’s the perfect lead-in for a World Cup. 

“I can use my experience from this season to overcome challenges. Things like that become a habit once you’ve been able to go through them and live them, so I will be able to bring that to the table. We know it can be a long tournament and anything can happen, so being able to roll with the punches in that way can be really valuable.”