England Women 2-0 Iceland (Bronze 22’, Stanway 78′)
CITY GROUND – In the last two years, Lauren James has played fewer than 1,000 minutes in the Women’s Super League. Of all the remarkable numbers, good and bad, surrounding her career that one is probably the most perplexing.
James can feel like a Harlem Globetrotter – coming alive in glimpses as an international player, limited to just 10 club games in 11 months. Injuries have continuously disrupted the progress of one of the most thrilling players to watch in world football. Every turning point can feel like a false dawn.
The paradox of James is that on the one hand, she is in desperate need of momentum to become the player she can. At the same time, when she does resurface, she is graceful and detached enough to play the game at her own pace. Left foot, right foot, socks rolled down, oozing around the pitch.
For long spells she had the freedom of Nottinghamshire, the one forward capable of truly unlocking Iceland even as the Lionesses blitzed Cecilia Runarsdottir’s goal.
It just HAD to be her! Lucy Bronze scores for England on the day she becomes the third most capped Lioness pic.twitter.com/qulrE0Fhky
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 7, 2026The 24-year-old has never felt fully appreciated; she spoke in a Times interview this week how she can be perceived as “arrogant” rather than nonchalantly cool, lazy as opposed to effortless. The reality is we may not see another player like her in a generation. Why do we, collectively, not value players like her, regardless of whether she looks aesthetically industrious enough?
The assist for England’s opener, the link-up with Georgia Stanway, the cross for Lucy Bronze’s header, was the epitome of what makes James such an asset. Stanway added the second after pushing higher up the pitch for the last half hour, with James drifting into the middle to compensate.
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Sarina Wiegman had opted to start her on the left, with Lauren Hemp on the right; which may have been unconventional, but it worked. There is no other player who offers that versatility and this Iceland side, as much as they struggled to meaningfully trouble England, gave a useful reminder of why that matters.
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These campaigns are always so free-scoring for Wiegman’s side that they effectively serve as an exercise in overcoming low blocks; they have put 88 goals past their last 12 opponents in World Cup qualifiers, so it is inevitable that less established teams set up that way against the double European champions.
England navigated that superbly against Ukraine in midweek, scoring six, and got over the line again here. The ability to use James to create so many different shapes has been so important in the last two major tournaments and will be again in Brazil – assuming England qualify – in 2027.
The curious thing is what happens between now and then. On co-comms, Karen Carney again described her as a future Ballon d’Or winner – the question, she insisted, was when not if. We have heard that before – but it may be time to restart the Lauren James hype-train.
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