England receive Lauren James injury verdict as Lionesses confirm squad for Euro 2025 final

Lionesses star Lauren James was involved in England’s final training session ahead of the Euro 2025 final. James’ availability for the final had been questioned after she was forced off in the semi-final against Italy and sat on the bench with ice on her injured ankle.

Sarina Wiegman acknowledged on Friday that the Chelsea star was still recovering, but remained optimistic she could play a part on Sunday against Spain. “[We] don’t know yet but that’s what we’re going to go for, for 23 players available for the game,” manager Wiegman said.

If James is unable to start, England are expected to choose between Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly to replace her on the right. Mead started the opening game in the position and replaced James at half-time on Tuesday, but Kelly has made her case with decisive contribution from the bench in both knockout matches.

James has started every match in the tournament so far, though, scoring an impressive brace in the 4-0 victory over the Netherlands. After joining the rest of the 23-player group in training in Zurich in Saturday, there is every hope she can play from the start on Sunday.

The full complement of players took part in the session before England make the short hop to Basel. This suggests captain Leah Williamson felt no ill-effects from the 85 minutes she played against Italy after recovering from a rolled ankle.

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Lionesses boss Wiegman has been reluctant to change her starting line-up during the tournament, despite needing penalties against Sweden and extra-time against Italy. Nine of her squad members have started every game, with the only changes seeing Esme Morgan replace Jess Carter at centre-back for the semis and Ella Toone come in for Mead after the opening game, with James moving out to the wing.

England’s ‘finishers’ have been key, though, with Kelly and fellow substitute Michelle Agyemang scoring the goals in the comeback victory over Italy in Geneva.Teenage forward Agyemang has still yet to start a senior game for her country, but her impact from the bench has made her hard to ignore.

“Michelle, I would think she’s about 30 years old, she’s so mature, so humble,” team-mate Toone said of the 19-year-old. “She’s come into this tournament with freedom, not a worry, not a care.

“She's turned up in big moments when we've needed her and she's got a lot of talent and she can do a lot of things that not many players can do. Even when she has scored and catches in games, she's been the same Michelle that she was when we started the tournament.

“I’m buzzing for her, it’s nice for good people to get things that they deserve. She’s definitely in the bubble now but when she gets out she’ll be recognised by a lot more people than she was before the tournament, and she definitely deserves that.”

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