Leah Williamson says fear factor must not take England’s energy on their big day

The Lionesses want to avenge their 1-0 loss to the same opponents in the 2023 World Cup final, while Spain are seeking their first European title, and a chance to become the first national side in history to take possession of every UEFA trophy on offer.

Spain – who also claimed the inaugural Nations League silverware in 2024 – are the favourites to complete the clean sweep, but England, whose never-say-die attitude has got them this far, deny they will be the underdogs in Basel.

“I think that’s the main thing,” said Williamson. “If you’re fearful of losing, then even if you win, do you enjoy that experience? Do you fully take it in?

“Do you give everything that you have, or are you expending energy in the wrong way?

“I think this team is so task-focused. Whatever is in our way, we’ll try and overcome that together. I don’t think we’re a team fearful of losing.

“I think anything can happen in football, and there’s so much out of your control. We focus on being the best people we can to each other, performing the best that we can, and hopefully that gives you the result that you want.

“But definitely not fearful of losing, because you expend energy in ways you don’t want to.”

If fear remains the enemy of England’s title defence, resilience is perhaps the friend the Lionesses have made along the way, repackaged into the oft-repeated mantra of playing “proper England” football,  and the idea,  Spain captain Irene Paredes said on Saturday, that the Lionesses “can change the result in the last minute.”

England opened their title defence with a 2-1 loss to France, forcing them to play out the rest of the group stage like they were already in the knockouts.

The Lionesses survived but only to then require unlikely back-to-back comebacks in the quarter and semi-finals, cementing 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang – who scored late equalisers in both – as England’s breakout star of the tournament.

“It was all part of the plan,” joked Williamson, when asked if England were peaking at precisely the right time.

“Fans got their money’s worth. I think you grow in a tournament, and we’re aware of that. I think the most important thing for us is, as the game goes on, taking advantage of the work we’ve done at the start.

“In every game, I know we’ve left it late, but I think that’s been the case. Every team is hard to beat, and every team poses a different threat, and challenge, and we have to stay in it as for long as possible, until we can take advantage of that.

“Hopefully the best is yet to come.”