Beth Mead opens up on World Cup regrets after England semi-final heartbreak
Beth Mead has opened up on her regret of not taking in the 2019 Women’s World Cup semi-final atmosphere before the heartbreak of being knocked out.
Mirror Football spoke exclusively to the Lioness legend on the upcoming semi-final against Australia, and the Arsenal star said she wishes she appreciated more of the time she had in that tournament.
Our conversation happened just hours before the Lionesses faced Australia for a chance to book their place in their first-ever Women’s World Cup final - as an ‘away team’ - and while Mead admits the Lionesses have faced adversity, they’ve already got this far, and who knows if it will happen again.
Mead confessed there are limited opportunities for such an occasion on the World Stage, and this year’s Lionesses must make the most of the opportunity and just enjoy themselves.
She said: "I've had the pleasure of playing in a semi-final of a World Cup before and I can tell you it's one that I wish I'd appreciated more at the time because although they're there again, it's not something that you get the chance to play in often. It's every four years so the girls have just got to go out there and have a good time."
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On how far the Lioness have come so far, Mead added: "I think considering the adversities and the injuries and the uncertainty going into the tournament on players going in, the girls have done incredible."
But, she knows it isn't coming easy - and not everybody is on England's side. Mead, who was speaking from a McDonald’s Fun Football Session to inspire the next generation, also discussed how the attitude of the rest of the team is seeing them through each round.
Beth Mead sits with a group of girls who took part in a Fun Football Session with McDonalds"I think people have this expectation to go out and play perfect match after match and that's not football. But they've still got through. Germany, and Brazil, they've not played their best and they've been knocked out. We've not played our best but we've still got the wins and I think that shows a lot about the team", added the England icon.
"Ultimately, we're in another semi-final of a World Cup, and I think the girls just need to go out there and not put pressure on themselves, where there's no pressure on us. We're the away team. Everybody wants us to not succeed, you've just got to go out there and enjoy it and take the moment in. It's the semi-final of a World Cup which is pretty insane."
Beth Mead was speaking at a McDonald’s Fun Football session ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Semi-Final 2023™. McDonald’s has given 50,000 children access to free football throughout the this summer. Sign up to your nearest session at
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