Women’s Euro 2025 live: Lionesses respond to Jess Carter abuse and Leah Williamson injury latest

Italy’s women’s national football team is one win from the European Championship final, a stark contrast to just three years ago when its players couldn’t even get professional contracts in their own country.

Veteran captain Cristiana Girelli was visibly emotional after her two goals inspired Italy to a 2-1 victory over Norway last week, securing their first semi-final appearance at the tournament in 28 years.

The Azzurre next play defending champions England on Tuesday in Geneva.

Reflecting on the achievement, Girelli, still wiping tears from her eyes, articulated the profound significance of their journey.

“It’s a great joy to be among the top four in Europe and it is a happiness that we want to share because we know how important it is to bring home the results in Italy and especially for the new generations,” she said.

As England prepare for their Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy on Tuesday night, Sarina Wiegman knows she can rely on a 19-year-old striker who thrives when the Lionesses are in trouble.

Good news for England with Leah Williamson, Lauren James and Lucy Bronze all involved in training.

If the Jess Carter story sounds dismally familiar, a further problem is how it affects everyone in different ways. There is a lot of deep emotion around the England camp, since so many could relate to a case of yet more racist abuse.

That is why the group came together, driven by some infuriated players, to tackle this head on. A core of the squad did not want to just write this off as more social media abuse you have to accept. They were adamant.

England captain Leah Williamson is set to be in contention to start Tuesday’s Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy after recovering from an ankle injury.

Williamson was forced off after rolling her ankle during the quarter-final win over Sweden but was involved in the first 15 minutes of open training in Zurich on Monday.

All of Sarina Wiegman’s squad of 23 took part in the session following the gruelling penalty shoot-out win over Sweden, including Lucy Bronze and Lauren James, who appeared to be limping afterwards.

Defender Jess Carter, who announced on Sunday that she would be taking a step back from social media as a result of the “vile” racist abuse she has received throughout the tournament, was also involved in training.

England travel to Geneva later on Monday ahead of their semi-final against Italy. The holders are bidding to return to the Euros final, where either Germany or Spain will await on Sunday, while Italy are playing their first semi-final since 1997.

Jess Carter was a member of England’s squad that won the Euros in 2022. The defender has won 49 caps for her country, and has started all four games for the Lionesses at Euro 2025.

England manager Sarina Wiegman said: “I stand with Jess, and all Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism.”

Uefa also condemned the abuse and offered their support to Carter. “We stand with Jess,” a statement said. “Abuse and discrimination should never be tolerated, whether in football or society, in person or online.”

England will look to return to the Euros final as they take on dark horses Italy in the semi-finals in Geneva.

The Lionesses fought from two goals down and survived a penalty shoot-out to defeat Sweden in the quarter-finals.

Sarina Wiegman’s side looked to be on their way home but Chloe Kelly helped change the game from the bench and Lucy Bronze and Hannah Hampton were the heroes to help the holders over the line.

Italy scored a last-minute goal to defeat Norway in the quarter-finals and are playing in their first Euros semi-final since 1997 – and England’s first-half performance could have given them plenty of encouragement.

Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out said it backed the Lionesses and would “support players in whatever actions they choose” following the racist abuse suffered by Jess Carter.

“We send our support to Jess Carter and back her decision to look after her own well-being. It shouldn’t come to a point where players feel the need to take this action; they should feel safe while doing their jobs. They should not be exposed to this sickening behaviour, and those responsible should face the strongest possible consequences.

“But responsibility also lies with social media companies. We support players in whatever actions they choose to take to signify their support in the fight against racism, but the focus should be on the reason behind those actions rather than the actions themselves.

“Social media companies have failed to prevent exposure to this toxicity, and football must continue to use its collective power to hold them to account. We have been working with the government and the regulator, but we know that more urgency is needed from everyone involved.”

Lucy Bronze said England have taken the collective decision to not take the knee before Tuesday’s semi-final against Italy, with the Lionesses saying in a statement that “we and football need to find another way to tackle racism”.

“It was driven by the group – obviously certain individuals more than others,” Bronze explained. “I think it was just the fact that we feel as a collective, is the message as strong as it used to be? Is the message really hitting hard? Because to us it feels like it’s not if these things are still happening to our players in the biggest tournaments of their lives.

“It’s about putting another statement out there to say, it’s something that still is a problem, it’s something that still needs to be put right. More needs to be done in football, more needs to be done in society. What that is right now as an individual, I don’t exactly know.”

Gianni Infantino says he is “deeply saddened” by the online racist abuse directed at England’s Jess Carter at Euro 2025 and promised Fifa will share data with the relevant authorities to identify the culprits.

“I am deeply saddened to see the online abuse directed at England’s Jess Carter during the ongoing Women’s Euro tournament. There is no place for racism in football or in society,” he said.

“We stand with Jess. We stand with every player and every individual who has suffered from racist abuse.

“No player should be discriminated against in any way, they should be free to be at their very best on the pitch.

“Through FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service, we have helped tackle such abuse across multiple tournaments. We will continue to collaborate and support confederations, FIFA Member Associations and their players.

“In this instance, we will be offering our support with any further action required, as well as sharing data for appropriate action to be taken against any perpetrators.”