BATTE: James, Hemp, Toone and Russo are proof that the Lionesses can roar again

While the Lionesses remain under the management of Sarina Wiegman, their future is in safe hands.

Two tournaments, two finals, one trophy. Sunday’s World Cup dream may have ended in heartbreak but the impact of what this England side has achieved will be felt for years to come.

A number of key players in this team are still young. Lauren James is 21, Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp are 23, Alessia Russo and Georgia Stanway both 24, Chloe Kelly 25. England’s task is to grow and improve the next generation coming through.

Spain, for example, have a clear way of playing from youth level to the senior team and that is something Wiegman has tried to implement at England. Her assistant Arjan Veurink works with the younger teams to ensure all age groups have the same ‘identity’.

‘He works really closely with our development teams in terms of our style of play and identity throughout all of our teams,’ said the FA’s women’s technical director Kay Cossington.

‘Sarina has a real passion for ensuring that we connect the whole game. She’s invested in ensuring that we grow all aspects of our pathway teams and we spend a lot of time together to ensure that we have a continuous pipeline of players that have a clear England identity.’

There is optimism over the talent coming through at Under 17 level, with players like Arsenal’s Michelle Agyemang tipped for a bright future.

There is slightly more concern over the age group between Under 19 and the senior team and that’s where work is needed between now and 2027. But for how much longer will Wiegman be here?

Her contract runs until the end of Euro 2025 and Wiegman said before the final that she has no plans to leave amid rumoured interest from the United States.

But the Football Association are desperate to tie their manager down for longer.

‘We’ve always said we’d get to it (contract talks) after a tournament,’ said the FA’s chief executive Mark Bullingham. ‘We’ve had good conversations after the Euros, there will be an appropriate time to do it.

‘She’s contracted until 2025 and she’ll obviously want to have a decent holiday after this. But all I’ll say is we’re massive fans of her. We believe she’s happy and we’d love to continue working with her for a long time.’

Wiegman said she hopes to make more finals with this England team but would not be drawn on whether that included staying on for the next World Cup in 2027.

‘Four years is a long time. We have a very short turnaround but we’ll start in September with Scotland and the Netherlands in the Nations League to qualify for the Olympics.

'You want to improve all the time. I hope in the future I get a new moment with the team I work with, that would be amazing, because it’s very special to play finals.’

Qualifying for the Olympics is the next task for this England team. They begin their Nations League campaign against Scotland next month and the two sides who progress to the final will qualify for the tournament, along with hosts France.

It would of course be a Team GB side, rather than England, but Wiegman would likely be the manager.

She took the Netherlands to Tokyo in 2021 but their quarter-final exit, coupled with the Covid-19 experience, means Wiegman is desperate for another shot at winning gold.

‘The Olympics were a little disappointing because it was in Covid, and it was a big dream of mine to go to the Olympics, but the Olympics wasn’t like everything... well, I said it before, it felt like a jail.

‘Football unites and football brings people together, and that connection was not there, so we weren’t allowed to do anything. We were in a hotel, stuck in the hotel, so the enjoyment of connecting and getting all the energy of everyone wasn’t there.’

Bullingham said the FA ‘have a plan’ and that talks will take place if and when England qualify for the Olympics. There are reasons to be optimistic that they will, and that they can be successful at Euro 2025.

Wiegman will allow herself some time to get over yesterday’s defeat but the work will start again soon. For now, the future is bright. But for how long that future includes Wiegman is up to her.