England captain Leah Williamson challenged the defending champions to prove they are no “flash in the pan” when they take on World Cup holders Spain in Sunday’s Euro 2025 final in Basel.

The Lionesses forever transformed women’s football in England when they lifted their first major trophy at their home European Championship in 2022, and now hope to become the nation’s first senior football side to win one away from home.

Williamson is adamant everyone in camp is “connected to what it means”, but insisted the Lionesses remain unburdened by the weight of the nation’s hopes.

“The landscape keeps changing and we’re trying to change with it,” said Williamson, when asked what she hoped their legacy would be after this tournament.

“I think that’s a really hard thing to do and I think that proves the investment and the quality of the game in England is continuing to rise.

“You don’t just want to be sort of a flash in the pan, like a memory and I think that when we spoke before 2022, we said it was the start of something.

“And I think we’re still trying to play our role in that as well. So being here and being on this stage, we know how powerful that is and I hope that just continues to grow.

“The respect for the women’s game, the respect for women and women’s sport in general continues, and we can try our best to continue to elevate that.”

Williamson disagreed with England being branded as underdogs to Spain, who beat them in the 2023 World Cup final – England’s first – and have played a flawless campaign so far.

The Lionesses, in contrast, suffered an opening defeat to France and required back-to-back late comebacks in the knockouts.

Sarina Wiegman’s side, who beat Italy on Tuesday night, are coming into the contest with an statistically-favourable extra day’s rest and hope to have a full squad at their disposal after Lauren James trained on Saturday morning.

Williamson admitted she would never take England’s Wembley triumph three summers ago for granted.

But, she said: “I think the beautiful thing about 2022 was that I’m not sure if any of us will ever be part of anything like that again, in terms of the change, in terms of the story, the journey, everything, but being away from home is special in a different way.

“You go out, you represent your country somewhere else and I think the weight of that is important to consider, because it sometimes adds a little extra.”

England, Williamson insisted, were staying measured, even under considerable pressure to make more history.

“I think we’re very connected to what it means to the nation,” Williamson added. “In that sense, we are connected as we can be, being away from home.

“I think the opportunity of tomorrow and what is on offer is the best thing in football. We came to the tournament, we wanted to be here, we wanted to be in it until the end and have a chance to fight for that trophy.

“You can’t do that until you get in the final. I think we don’t necessarily carry the weight of it, how much it means to people, but we’re aware of it because it means the same to us.

“You have a squad of excited, focused players. We recognise the opportunity and we will do everything we can to take it.”