England women's football team delivered a dominant 8-0 win over China at Wembley on Saturday, with Georgia Stanway scoring a hat-trick. The victory was the largest margin since a 7-0 defeat of Jamaica before the Euros, and the biggest since a 10-0 win over Luxembourg in 2022.
Beth Mead opened the scoring in the 12th minute, followed by a second two minutes later. Lauren Hemp made it 3-0 in the 16th minute, and Stanway added her first in the 23rd. Stanway converted a penalty in the 38th minute for her second, then completed her hat-trick in the 52nd minute after a one-two with Ella Toone. Toone scored in the 71st minute, and Alessia Russo added the eighth in the 78th minute.
England manager Sarina Wiegman praised her team's performance, saying, 'What I wanted was to come here, show who we are and put a good performance in. I hope everyone enjoyed that. We did.' The attendance was 74,611, with some empty seats in the upper tier.
The match featured several absentees due to injury or workload management, including Leah Williamson, Lauren James, and Alex Greenwood. Anna Moorhouse made her first start in goal, and Maya Le Tissier partnered Esme Morgan in central defence. Wiegman noted that the centre-back duo had played together in the previous camp and worked well.
Despite the comprehensive win, the fixture was seen as inconsequential for England's development, with the main positives being the strength in depth and the ability to break down a low block.
