Leah Williamson injury latest as Lionesses star races to make England's Euros semi-final

England captain Leah Williamson faces a race against time to be fit for the Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy. The centre-back went down with an ankle injury during extra-time against Sweden as England won their quarter-final 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Arsenal star Williamson briefly attempted to continue before making way for Niamh Charles. “She rolled her ankle,” Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman said after the match, revealing Williamson would be assessed on Friday.

“I don’t know what it is right now. She couldn’t stay on the pitch so we had to take her off.”

Team-mate Chloe Kelly had words with the centre-back during the injury stoppage, and later revealed part of the reason was to ensure Charles was ready to get straight into the thick of things. “I could see she was in a little bit of pain, she's an unbelievable captain and a good friend of mine so I was just saying wait a little longer because we need someone to warm up,” Kelly said.

The hard-fought 120 minutes against Sweden took its toll on the team, with a number of players in the wars. Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton finished the game with a bloodied nose after a late collision, while right-back Lucy Bronze removed strapping from her leg before smashing home what proved to be the winning penalty as England won a sudden-death shoot-out.

READ MORE: Lionesses press conference hilariously interrupted as Euros hero takes FaceTime call

READ MORE: Hannah Hampton makes injury admission after England heroics in Sweden Euros win

"I actually hurt my leg a little bit in the game, which is why I had to take the tape off, so I kind of changed my mind,” Bronze said after the win. “That's why I took it off because I thought I'm not sure if I'm going to hurt myself doing something different.”

England were on the verge of elimination with a little over 10 minutes to go, only for Bronze to pull one back and Michelle Agyemang to level things up. They still had to dig deep during extra-time, with some strong defensive work preventing the Swedes from snatching a third goal, and Williamson was full of praise for those who helped both start and finish the job.

"I just feel really, really proud," te captain said. "That was awful to watch at the end but the girls, I just know that we don't ever give up and we've said it before, we're never done, we never believe that we're ever done and the fightback, the quality to turn the game around and then stay in it mentality, just incredible."

Semi-final opponents Italy will have had an extra day to recover, while they needed just 90 minutes in their quarter-final. Like England, they overcame opponents who had topped their group, claiming a 2-1 victory over Norway thanks to Cristiana Girelli's last-gasp winner.

Join our new WhatsApp communityand receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.