Leah Williamson's 'emotional' return could provide crucial England boost after Sweden disappointment

As Leah Williamson watched from the stands at Sydney's Stadium Australia, she couldn't help but feel she had made a huge mistake.

The England captain was there to cheer on her teammates as they battled it out with Spain in the Women's World Cup final, having herself been ruled out of the tournament with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). It was a game fraught with tension - a game the Lionesses would eventually go on to lose 1-0 - and Williamson admits to finding the whole ordeal pretty vexing.

“Being at the World Cup final and sitting next to Jill Scott was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made in my whole life," the defender quipped in a press conference on Monday. "Not being at the World Cup final, just sitting next to Jill."

It was a playful jibe but one that only serves to underline Williamson's very real anguish at being unable to help get her team over the line in Australia. Of course, it is impossible to know whether her availability would have spared England the agony of falling short in football's most significant fixture, but how Sarina Wiegman's side would have loved to have had her leadership, experience and undeniable quality to call upon on that anxiety-inducing August night.

"Everything happens for a reason," the Arsenal centre-back said as she sat alongside the Dutchwoman at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, where the Lionesses will take on the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday evening . "This was the path I had to be on."

It was a typically thoughtful assessment from Williamson however, for everyone of an England persuasion, there is relief that the defender's path has now led her back here: to Wiegman's squad in time for what is quite possibly their biggest game since that painful defeat to Spain eight months ago.

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Tuesday's clash in the Irish capital will be England's second EURO 2025 qualifier in the space of four days, with the Lionesses having been held to a 1-1 draw by Sweden at Wembley last Friday. It was not the result the European Champions were hoping for to kickstart their qualifying campaign and the lacklustre performance only added weight to the conviction that England are not the formidable force they were two years ago.

Before the World Cup final, England had lost just once in 38 games under Wiegman. Fast forward to now and they have failed to win four of their last 10, losing on three occasions. The form book does not particularly inspire confidence ahead of next summer's tournament finals in Switzerland but the upcoming showdown with Eileen Gleeson's side - the lowest-ranked team in the Lionesses' qualifying 'Group of Death' - does represent an opportunity to lay down a marker before the domestic season whirs back into life.

"I don't really want to talk about must-win - but we really want to win this game," Wiegman said. "If we win this game it puts us in a better position. We know this group. It's hard to predict where it will go. You just go out there in every game and try to play your best game. That's what we will do."

While toppling the Republic of Ireland - who were only narrowly beaten by France on Friday - will not be easy, Wiegman will at least have the services of her skipper to call upon. She confirmed on Monday that Williamson, who has not featured for her country in almost a year, will start against the Girls in Green and will be hoping that her return provides an injection of both quality and morale on Tuesday night.

"Of course, Leah is a fantastic player," Wiegman said. "I want to say first that we had hard choices to make in the team. The competitiveness is really high. We have many options in different positions.

"What Leah brings is of course vision and in possession she is very bright. She finds the right pass. The flexibility in defence, she is able to defend the space behind her together with everyone else. Defending does not start with one player but with the whole team. That's what I hope Leah will bring to the team tomorrow."

Certainly, the significance of Williamson's return is twofold. First of all, she is enormously talented, even if some lingering rustiness from her nine-month lay-off has been evident in some of her recent displays for Arsenal.

At EURO 2022, the tournament that yielded England's first major trophy since the men's World Cup in 1966, Williamson played every minute. She won the ball more often than any other player and completed 472 passes - over 100 more than any of her fellow competitors.

Add to that her keen eye for a forward pass and solid defensive partnership with Chelsea's Millie Bright and it is easy to see why England have looked slightly off-colour in her absence. Then there is the ultimate intangible that is her aura and her innate ability to marshal her teammates emotionally, as well as physically.

"In the last year, I think, we weren't lucky; we worked hard for it, but in 2021, 2022, things really went our way," Williamson reflected. "We played such high-level stuff, and it felt at the Euros like everything we touched was golden."

Indeed, if there was to be a face of that golden age, it would be Williamson. Alongside teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy, she has pushed for the reform of girls' sports off the pitch and embodies everything the Lionesses are supposed to represent. To have a presence like that back in the dressing room and on the pitch can only be a good thing.

"It has been a difficult journey," Williamson said. "I’d be lying if I said (getting back into the England squad) wasn’t the thing that I’d had my focus on. This is where I wanted to get back to. I wanted to be good enough to get back into this squad. I had some of the best memories of my life as part of this team.

"I’m an emotional person. We’ve all seen me cry on many occasions. If there’s a team that you want to be in in the world, I think the Lionesses will be up there and I love playing for England."

It will be a poignant moment, then, when Williamson steps out in front of an expected 30,000 fans in Dublin on Tuesday night. And, while the defender might not be the answer to all of England's prayers, her return may well prove to be the boost they need to get back to winning ways.