28 May 2024 , 13:12
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Gareth Southgate maintains there's no pressure for the England men's national team to match the triumph of Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses but hopes to take inspiration from the reigning women's European champions.
The Three Lions travel to Germany this summer for the European Championship and will hope to end a near 60-year trophy drought for the men's national team since the 1966 World Cup triumph. Under Southgate, England have reached the World Cup semi-finals and quarter-finals in 2018 and 2022 respectively, while reaching the finals of Euro 2020, losing to Italy in a penalty shoot-out.
Wiegman's Lionesses stormed to glory during the home 2022 Women's European Championships, marking the women's team's first major tournament victory.
The triumph began a sensational record under Wiegman as the Lionesses relished a 30-game unbeaten run and swiftly established themselves as one of women's football's biggest powerhouses.
A berth in last summer's Women's World Cup final was epitomising of the team's new status, though a 1-0 loss to Spain in the showpiece final ultimately kept England from lifting a major trophy on foreign soil, men's or women's.
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Southgate's England arguably have the best chance at doing so as they arrive in Germany with some of Europe's greatest talents.
And with another European Championship on the horizon, Southgate believes that the current trajectory and status of the Lionesses is something from which England's men's team can take inspiration.
"To be European champions and to have been World Cup finalists… it’s a phenomenal job Sarina [Wiegman] and the girls have done," he told GQ.
The inspirational Lionesses have become household names since their Euro 2022 win (Getty Images)"I don’t think the players feel pressure to match that, but without a doubt, it’d be great for everybody at St George’s [if we did]. When [the training facility] was built, we wanted to be competitive in all the major tournaments, and we are hitting those later stages.
"Are you going to win them all? No. But in the end, if you keep knocking on semi-finals and finals, then you start to learn how to win."
Along with the Lionesses, England's under-21s were crowned European champions at the 2022/23 championships, nearly 40 years on from the last time the team touted that title.
The Lionesses are currently defending their European title ahead of next summer's Euros, with a qualification double header against France scheduled later this week.
Read the full interview with Southgate online at British GQ now.
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