England are three days away from potentially securing their first Women’s World Cup.
Sarina Wiegman’s side take on Spain on Sunday and, whatever happens, the England manager’s future is a hot topic of conversation after she has guided the Lionesses to back-to-back major finals — particularly given U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s resignation.
So what next for Wiegman? How would England players be rewarded if they do lift the trophy on Sunday? And what is happening with the negotiations over bonuses that was paused before the tournament began?
Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the Football Association, and women’s technical director Kay Cossington spoke to media in a B&B in the sleepy beach-side town of Terrigal, Australia, to address these issues and much more.
Here, The Athletic offers a selection of their comments — lightly edited in places for brevity — followed by analysis from women’s football editor Chloe Morgan.
Sarina Wiegman’s contract
Mark Bullingham: “We’ve seen lots of rumours and she is a special talent. From our side, she’s obviously contracted until 2025. We think she’s doing a great job. We’re obviously huge supporters of her and hopefully she feels the same way. She’s someone we’d like to have with us…
