England defender Jess Carter has revealed that she was scared to play in the Euro 2025 final having been subjected to racist abuse earlier in the tournament.
Carter, 27, suffered the abuse in the aftermath of the Lionesses’ quarter-final victory over Sweden.
However, she was part of manager Sarina Wiegman’s starting line-up for the final on Sunday night, which saw them beat Spain in a dramatic penalty shootout to lift a second consecutive European Championship and avenge their World Cup defeat from two years earlier against the same opponents.
After celebrating victory with her team-mates, Carter revealed her nerves heading into the match – as she ended up part of a team that created footballing history.
She said: ‘I was super scared of playing the final for the first time in my life.
‘When I woke up in the morning and saw my team and saw the support I had – and the belief I had from my team-mates, manager and family – I could come out and give my all. That’s all you can do.
England defender Jess Carter has revealed that she was scared to play in the Euro 2025 final having been subjected to racist abuse earlier in the tournament
Carter, 27, suffered the abuse in the aftermath of the Lionesses’ quarter-final victory over Sweden
‘It’s incredible, the fans have been incredible all tournament and we couldn’t have done this without them.
‘We’re so grateful for them and this moment. Giving up is not in our DNA. We have stuck together from minute one. I couldn’t be prouder of this team and I’m so honoured to be proud of it.
‘I’m more disappointed in my previous performances than anyone else.’
It comes after Carter’s team-mate Lucy Bronze called on social media companies to take action over online trolls after Carter was racially abused.
Carter said she had received a ‘lot’ of online hate after the game and announced that she was stepping away from social media.
Full back Bronze, 33, subsequently launched a fiery condemnation of the vile comments aimed at Carter and revealed abuse has been on the rise in the women’s game as it has grown in popularity.
‘We all know that any player of colour who’s played for England has probably gone through racist abuse. That’s a sad fact in this day and age,’ said Bronze.
‘(We’re feeling) anger and sadness that our team-mate has gone through this. We don’t want it to happen. We want to be focused on the football.
Carter said she had received a ‘lot’ of online hate after the game and announced that she was stepping away from social media
England’s players unanimously decided not to take the knee before their semi-final against Italy, saying it is time to find a new way to tackle racism
‘We want Jess and anybody else who puts on an England shirt to be brave, to be happy when they play for England.’
Carter, 27, had posted on Instagram: ‘From the start of this tournament, I have experienced a lot of racial abuse. Whilst I feel every fan is entitled to their opinion on performances and results, I don’t think it’s OK to target someone’s appearance or race.
‘I am grateful for all the support from the genuine fans, but I am taking this measure to protect myself in a bid to keep my focus on helping the team any way I can.
‘Hopefully speaking out will make the people writing this abuse think twice, (and) others won’t have to deal with it.’
Women’s football has experienced a boom in popularity in recent years but, as Bronze made clear, that growth has brought serious challenges.
‘The bigger the game gets, the bigger the noise becomes, the more fans there are, the more critics there are,’ said the Chelsea defender. ‘
We’re obviously open to critics, that’s why we love the sport, but we’re not open to abuse.
FA CEO Mark Bullingham said: ‘We strongly condemn those responsible for this disgusting racism’
The FA contacted UK police after hearing of the racist abuse Carter had been subjected to
‘The bigger the sport’s got, it seems to be that more abuse has come as well and especially in women’s football, the online abuse seems to be getting worse and worse.
‘We see it more in the stadiums in men’s football, as well as online, but with women’s football there seems to be a real target online. People need to be held accountable.’
