‘It's the last trophy’ - Leah Williamson admits she is targeting 2027 World Cup glory with Lionesses

Williamson was not part of the 2023 England squad which reached the World Cup final in Australia and she is determined to help her side go one better at next summer’s tournament. The Lionesses captain has been integral to success under Sarina Wiegman, leading her nation to back-to-back European Championship successes both at home and in Switzerland.

After an injury to her anterior cruciate ligament kept her out of the last tournament, the next iteration being hosted in Brazil could be a chance for Williamson to complete her haul of trophies. With England, as well as the two European titles, Williamson led her country to the first ever Finalissima title in 2023.

With Arsenal, Williamson is equally as decorated and has won every trophy there is to win. She was crucial to the Champions League title the Gunners lifted last season and added the inaugural Women’s Champions Cup to her collection at the start of 2026. This added to her already impressive honours list, including one WSL title, two FA Cups and four League Cups.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Williamson revealed her desperation to become the first English player to lift the World Cup since Bobby Moore in 1966. 

“The last thing on the list is obviously a World Cup. In the career that I've had, it's the last trophy,” she said. “Everybody wants it and the stage of women's football now, it's just so unpredictable. There's so many good teams - it becomes so much harder, which I think only makes you want it more.”

Reflecting on the first European Championship win with England in 2022, Williamson shared how deeply the success meant to both her and England more widely. “That's the beauty of it - everybody knew what they were a part of. You can go deeper into the history of women's football, but you can also just go to the first trophy, for 56 years or whatever it was, that England had won,” she said.

Williamson added that the title “changed the landscape of football and I'm so happy that we won it because I think the country was ready to do something with it and I think we've seen that.

“It changed everything. We just went from no-one knowing us to everybody knowing us overnight, kind of thing. It's a common understanding amongst all of us girls and we talk about it...we had to accept that we probably would never feel that way again. It was that big a moment and I think that does change your life. Does it give you a fuel to then go and do something else or is it like, I'm content with that?”

Williamson’s Arsenal sit fourth in the Women’s Super League looking to close the gap on the clubs above them in the Champions League qualification spots. The Gunners are four and five points off Chelsea and Manchester United respectively but have two games in hand over their rivals following the postponement to their game against Brighton earlier this month.

Catching league leaders Manchester City appears slightly beyond Renee Slegers’ side this campaign, with 13 points likely too large a gap to chase down, despite the two games in hand. Despite this, the Gunners will have a chance to defend their European crown against Chelsea.

On last year’s success, Williamson added that despite the triumph, she would not want to relive the final against Barcelona. “I was in a lot of pain from start to finish - emotionally, physically. It was very warm, I was on the verge of sunstroke...I was not in a good place,” she said.