Former Lionesses Rachel Yankey and Faye White rate England's World Cup chances

20 July 2023 , 06:30

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Ex-England and Arsenal players Rachel Yankey and Faye White previewed the England Women's team chances at the World Cup while signing a 100 metre tall by 20 metre wide message of good-luck for the team unveiled by KIND Snacks, official partners of the England team (Image: David Parry/PA Wire)

Former England footballers Rachel Yankey and Faye White are confident the Lionesses can make history by winning the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Both Yankey and White, who have won a combined 20 FA Cup trophies, hand-signed a message of support the size of a football pitch, that was visible from 20,000ft in the air as the Lionesses took off to Australia for the tournament. The giant message was made up of thousands of individual words of support, collected by KIND Snacks, proud partners of the England team, from fans across the country, to help fuel the players.

Former Arsenal players Yankey and White, who were at West London's Thornbury Park where the sign lay, threw their own support behind the team, who will begin their campaign against Haiti on July 22 in Brisbane. "We have to believe in the squad, they're champions of Europe," former Arsenal captain White told Mirror Sport.

"Obviously you don't want any injuries and you need a bit of fortune, especially in a tournament so far away from home. But we have a lot of confidence, we're a top four nation in the world and on any given day they can produce their best, especially with the memories of being European champions. But I believe they can do it. The difference of repeat winners is belief and that mental strength that they've got what it takes to produce their best when it matters."

Stressing the importance of the team being in harmony off the pitch in order to be successful at a major tournament, Yankey added: "When you go into tournament football, it's obviously what you do on the pitch, but it's also what you do off the pitch and how united you are as a team and how much you have each other's backs. They've got such good staff and organisation, things we never had."

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A year on from their spectacular Euros triumph, England are bidding to make history by becoming the first team to have the esteemed honour of being called both world and European champions at the same time. Since their last success the legacy of women's football in the UK has continued to grow and the number of messages of support received is a testament to that.

Though progress has been made, Yankey explained that there is still work to be done. "It definitely think it can go further. We still need to work harder and there's still a lot more to be done," she said. "The improvement has been the amount of people going to the games.

England will begin their quest for a maiden World Cup win on July 22 (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

"Also, there are big brands actually engaging the fans. Brands are doing this because they believe it is the right thing to do. We also want more young girls to be playing the game from different communities and different backgrounds.

"We also need to educate young boys that football is a game for everybody and it shouldn't matter about your gender, the colour of your skin or your ability.

"We need to make sure we give everybody the opportunity to play and have a role model they can relate to, but we're getting there."

Liam Llewellyn