Lucy Bronze: The ‘amazing’ veteran full-back remains a regular for England

Lucy Bronze made her 145th appearance for England on Saturday, but few of her performances could have been better than this impressive all-rounder.

The 34-year-old right-back scored the first goal in the 23rd minute with a brilliant header after a perfectly timed run to meet Lauren James’ cross to ensure England’s early pressure paid off.

And 12 minutes before the end of the match, while nerves were fraying amid the failure of the Lions team to extend their advantage, Bronze sent a perfect cross pass for Georgia Stanway to shoot it directly and achieve three points in the World Cup qualifiers against Iceland.

On the day she overtook Karen Carney to become England’s third highest-paid female footballer of all time, Bronze showed why she remains the gold standard for the Lionesses on and off the field.

“She is an amazing person,” England manager Sarina Wigman said in her post-match media conference when asked by BBC Sport about Bronze’s performance.

“She brings herself and has a lot of football intelligence, helping the team on and off the field.”

Bronze has been England’s undisputed first choice right-back for more than a decade, but questions about succession planning are beginning to arise.

She will be 35 years old by the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, and Maya Le Tissier started at right-back against Ukraine in midweek.

But Bronze’s display at the City Ground was perfect. She made five shots, played 49 passes with 91% accuracy, and in defense helped Iceland keep one shot on target – which Hannah Hampton made a brilliant save with her only significant move.

He has shown that bronze was still an integral part of Wegman’s England.

The Dutch coach said: “She plays a big role in the team. She wants to participate in the World Cup.”

“It’s also still building minutes, but if you perform like that on the pitch, you’re still very important.”

The bronze woman who overtook her in England’s debut pecking order led the praise for the two-time European champion.

“That’s why Lucy is in the team,” Carney told ITV Sport. “She has that mentality, she’s always asking for more and that’s why we’ve won two Euros. She knows what we need to get to the next level to win the World Cup.

“I love that she keeps asking for more, she’s still an absolute winner.”