England vs Jamaica: Toone Scores Brace in 6-0 Win
Ella Toone’s first-half brace fired England to a dominant 7-0 friendly victory over Jamaica ahead of UEFA Women’s Euro 2025.
Toone struck twice in the first half either side of Lucy Bronze’s 32nd-minute header from Jess Carter as England demolished Jamaica in a clinical display at Leicester’s King Power Stadium.
Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo, Aggie Beever-Jones and Beth Mead netted in the second half as the Lionesses completed a dominant victory as Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses now turn their attention to their UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 Group D opener against France on 5 July (8pm UK Time).
Having named her squad for England’s UEFA Women’s Euro title defence earlier this month, manager – Sarina Wiegman was left pleased at her team’s fast start in this friendly as Jess Carter and Stanway fired wide in the opening nine minutes.
England eventually broke the deadlock a minute later after Russo was fouled inside the box with no penalty awarded, although play continued and Stanway teed up Toone via a deflection to curl into the top-right corner to put the Lionesses ahead.
Jamaica however mounted a more resilient defence with a strong counter-attacking threat which saw them win a 19th-minute corner, which Allyson Swaby flicked on for Kayla McKenna to turn in via deflection.
Their equaliser however was disallowed two minutes later following a Video-Assistant Referee (VAR) review, with Kalyssa van Zanten adjudged to had been offside impeding Hannah Hampton’s view of the ball.
England continued to press albeit with little positional awareness of teammates as many chances were comfortably cleared, until Lauren Hemp teed up Carter to whip in a 32nd-minute cross which Bronze nodded in under pressure from Amelia van Zanten to double the hosts’ lead.
Bronze then hit the left post with a 37th-minute shot as England valiantly tried to extend their lead before half-time, but Jamaica dug in to keep their deficit down, as Allyson and Chantelle Swaby managed to squeeze Russo, which caused her to volley Mead’s cross wide in the 41st minute.
Jamaica’s defensive fragility continued to be a concern with 11 goals conceded in their last three matches – with nine goals leaked in the first half, and that issue reared its head as Toone struck in the fourth minute of injury time via a left-post deflection to make it 3-0 at half time
England continued to control the game early in the second half as Stanway, Toone and Mead saw shots blocked in the 59th minute, before the ball fell for Stanway to rifle in from Russo’s scrappy pass inside the box to further extend England’s lead.
Wiegman brought on Esme Morgan, Chloe Kelly and the returning James in a 63rd minute triple change, and James repaid that faith eight minutes later with a cross which Russo headed in at the far left post to add a fifth goal.
Liya Brooks however denied Aggie Beever Jones as she blocked the forward’s 79th minute volley as the Lionesses continued to press for more goals.
Two Chelsea teammates combined in the 85th minute to complete England’s dominant display as Niamh Charles played a low cross across into the box, which Beever-Jones calmly turned into the far left corner to condemn Jamaica to another demoralising defeat.
England however were dealt an injury scare just seconds into five minutes of injury time after Mead was brought down with a tricky challenge to her ankle, but the Arsenal winger luckily walked away and completed the match with a 96th minute goal into the left corner from Chloe Kelly’s pass.
What’s Next?
England head to Zurich, Switzerland where they commence their UEFA Women’s Euro title defence against France and Netherlands on 5 and 9 July respectively in Group D, before their group campaign finishes on 13 July with a clash against Wales in St Gallen.
Teams
England: Hannah Hampton, Lucy Bronze (Charles 75′), Alex Greenwood (Morgan 63′), Leah Williamson, Jess Carter, Georgia Stanway, Keira Walsh (Clinton 75′), Beth Mead, Ella Toone (James 63′), Lauren Hemp (Kelly 63′), Alessia Russo (Beever-Jones 75′)
Substitutes: Michelle Agyemang, Aggie Beever-Jones, Niamh Charles, Grace Clinton, Lauren James, Khiara Kheating, Chloe Kelly, Maya Le Tissier, Anna Moorhouse, Esme Morgan, Jess Park, Lotte Wubben-Moy
Jamaica: Liya Brooks, Tiffany Cameron, Chantelle Swaby, Allyson Swaby (Cardoza 45′), Amelia van Zanten, Kameron Simmonds, Atlanta Primus (Thomas 62′), Nyema Ingleton, Kalyssa van Zanten (Blades 63′), Kayla McKenna, Olufolasade Adamolekun (Sampson 48′)
Substitutes: Jade Bailey, Reanna Blades, Naya Cardoza, Serena Mensah, Jade Mitchell, Aliyah Morgan, Vyan Sampson, Natasha Thomas, Ricshya Walker