England women's national team secured an emphatic 8-0 victory over China in a friendly at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening. Georgia Stanway scored a hat-trick, while Beth Mead netted a double, with additional goals from Lauren Hemp, Ella Toone, and Alessia Russo completing the rout.
The match marked England's biggest win since a 7-0 defeat of Jamaica before the Euros and a 10-0 triumph over Luxembourg in 2022. The crowd of 74,611 was slightly patchy in the upper tier but still represented a sell-out for a fixture against the world's 16th-ranked team.
England took control early, with Mead opening the scoring in the 12th minute after a flick-on from Lucy Bronze. Mead added a second two minutes later, and Hemp made it 3-0 in the 16th minute. Stanway joined the scoring in the 23rd minute, converted a penalty before half-time, and completed her hat-trick early in the second half. Toone and Russo added further goals in the 71st and 78th minutes respectively.
Manager Sarina Wiegman praised her team's performance, particularly in the final third. 'What I wanted was to come here, show who we are and put a good performance in,' she said. 'We wanted to be better in the final third and today we did that.'
The victory came despite several absences due to injury or workload management, including Leah Williamson, Lauren James, and Alex Greenwood. Goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse made her first start, while Maya Le Tissier partnered Esme Morgan in central defence.
While the result was impressive, the match provided limited insight into England's development against a China side that struggled to contain the hosts' attacking intensity.
