Lionesses celebrate EURO 2025 triumph at homecoming event

A royal backdrop for football royalty. The UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 winners marked their homecoming earlier today with a special event in central London.

Three years ago, Sarina Wiegman’s team were celebrating in Trafalgar Square after winning the tournament on home soil – England’s first major trophy since 1966.

This afternoon, an open-top bus procession culminated with a staged ceremony – hosted by former Lioness Alex Scott – at the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace as the European champions were greeted by masses of fans who flocked to the capital to show their support.

Two buses made their way up The Mall with a musical escort as players took photographs and videos to immortalise the moment, waving to a sea of supporters as they went.

Flags, scarves, commemorative T-shirts displaying the word ‘home’ were all donned for the occasion.

There were brass brand renditions of England’s unofficial anthems, Freed From Desire and Sweet Caroline, as Alessia Russo – England’s scorer in the Final in Basel – compared the feeling to being ‘on cloud nine’.

“This is just unreal,” said Russo. “We didn’t really know what to expect coming into it today but everyone was so excited on the bus.

“It was so nice to come back to England and celebrate with our fans. It’s crazy to see this many people come out in the home of England at London heading up to Buckingham Palace. I’d have never dreamt of anything like it.”

And upon taking to the stage, captain Leah Williamson was holding back the tears.

“I’ve been crying all the way down The Mall!” said Williamson. “This is one of the most unbelievable things I think any of us have ever done in our lives.

“There’s lots of ways to win a football match and we repeatedly did it the hard way. Back-to-back is special – 2022 was a fairytale but this feels really hard-earned.

“I’m just so happy for everybody that we all get to experience it to together. It’s a great group of girls. We love each other very much, we have each other’s backs and now we get to celebrate together. Honestly, this is really, really special.”

The Lionesses’ backroom staff – the team behind the team – were honoured on stage before head coach Sarina Wiegman was handed the microphone.

And there was a special surprise for the England boss in store as her favourite artist, singer-songwriter Burna Boy, serenaded the squad with Wiegman overcoming her initial shock to join in for a song and dance.

The duo you didn’t know you needed 😁😁 pic.twitter.com/WrItK2EDjY

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 29, 2025

The Young Player of the Tournament, Michelle Agyemang, and penalty shoot-out hero, Hannah Hampton, addressed fans on stage before veteran defender Lucy Bronze – now tied with host Scott on 140 England caps, placing fourth in the all-time rankings – shared her memories of the tournament.

The next guest performance came from Heather Small who asked the Lionesses, ‘what have you done today to make you feel proud?’ Of course, the answer was the small matter of being crowned European champions.

“We know we have amazing fans back home, we know we have a lot of support but when you’re in Switzerland, you’re in your own little bubble,” added Toone.

“Now, it’s finally sunk in that we’ve got so many people supporting us and that we made the nation proud.

“We just want to enjoy this moment and enjoy this day. Things like this don’t come around often in football, so you’ve got to enjoy every minute of it."

Lionesses past and present were also in attendance as Kerry Davis – the first Black woman to play for England and the scorer of the Lionesses’ first-ever goal at the inaugural edition of the European Championships back in 1984 – and women’s under-17s international Jane Oboavwoduo brought the coveted trophy out onto the stage.

Feeling proud! 😊🎶 pic.twitter.com/3NaodGgORH

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 29, 2025

“I have no words,” explained Keira Walsh. “It’s absolutely incredible. For all the fans that came out today, it’s so overwhelming. I just think what a special moment for women’s football that we can be here celebrating. It’s an emotional day.”

And as the tunes continued into the afternoon – including one of Rachel Daly’s favourites, Tina Turner’s River Deep, Mountain High – skipper Williamson signed off with a powerful message to the 65,000 fans gathered before them: ‘This story’s not done yet’.