Fara Williams reflects on England's road to final and Women's World Cup fever
It’s been nearly two weeks since the Lionesses made history as Women's World Cup finalists - and Fara Williams has reflected on the journey.
Indeed, it was a bittersweet moment, proud of their legacy yet distraught at the result. Sarina Wiegman ’s side watched the World Championship trophy slip from their grasp in a 1-0 loss to Spain at the half-hour mark, unable to find the reply.
Despite their tremendous achievement to reach the final stage, England's road to the final ultimately ended in defeat. “If I was a player and I didn't perform well but we won, I’d be happy," Williams told Mirror Football.
“I felt they were lucky with their results. As a fan and a former Lioness and knowing the abilities of the players I wanted more from them - I wanted performances to go alongside the result.
Williams is the highest-capped England player from both the men’s and women’s sides with 177 to her name before retirement in 2021. The 39-year-old former Lioness-turned-BBC pundit looked on, sometimes nervously at her fellow international teammates in the Land Down Under.
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She said: “I felt like Nigeria was certainly a game they [England] should’ve lost and against Columbia, two defensive mistakes. One from the goalkeeper and one from the centre half letting Columbia go through.
“I think our best performance was probably under the most amount of pressure against Australia and then, they [England] lost in the final which, I think, was only a matter of time. Coming up against big teams and not performing… and that's what happened in the final.”
And she would know, the former midfielder was part of the England set-up from 2001 to 2019 making appearances at the 2007, 2011 and 2015 Women’s World Cups - only to be dropped by Phil Neville for the 2019 tournament.
Fans show their support during the Australian Matildas community reception (Bradley Kanaris)Undeterred by the Neville snub, Williams continues to devote her life to the beautiful game travelling across the globe for punditry duties. Williams captured a moment of World Cup fever, something never before seen in the Women’s game.
She said: “I was in a lift after the England-Australia game and a little boy was crying his eyes out and it was just one of those things … did I ever think I’d witness a dad and his son crying at the fact the Women’s team got knocked out of the world cup? … probably not.
“So that was probably the moment I went ‘Wow okay this is real’. But, to be fair to them, when I landed every billboard, train or bus or whatever had the girls pasted all over it, everyone was wearing the shirt, there was just yellow everywhere.
“I spoke to a couple of people in the street who had never been to a women’s game before and the fact that they came back [to watch another game] and they didn't come back alone. These are guys taking their little boys and daughters back. I think that was powerful with what the Matildas did there.”
The tournament saw a flurry of younger players take the helm and quash the status quo of the Women’s football rankings, Williams commented: “I didn't know too much about [Linda] Caicedo going into the tournament and I thought she was exceptional.
“Sophia Smith, the American. I’d heard about her, didn't know too much and felt she did really well. We all knew about [Aitana] Bon Mati but she’s still young.
“[Salma] Paralluelo! An unbelievable performance from her winning the u17’s World Cup, 20’s World Cup and then the senior World Cup not bad for a 19-year-old right!” she added laughing. “Especially when I’ve spent 23 years in the game it's like, what?!
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“It was exciting, and the future of the game in terms of how many young players were at this World Cup to experience that so young - the future of the game is certainly something I'm excited about.”
Through the M&S Eat Well health seal of approval and its partnership with the FAs, M&S Food aims to make families healthier for the next generation. It links the eating habits of much-loved footballing heroes to how they play, promoting positive healthy eating messages for kids in a way that’s engaging, relatable and drives change. The Eat Well flower is only given to products meeting evidence-based nutritional criteria, developed by our nutritionists in consultation with the British Nutrition Foundation.
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