“England will prove too much for Spain” — Lucy Staniforth makes 2023 World Cup final prediction

England have made history by reaching their first ever Women’s World Cup final. After a stunning 3-1 win over Australia, Sarina Wiegman and her Lionesses are now ready to battle it out for the biggest prize on the international stage. They will meet with Spain on Sunday to decide the 2023 champions.

Despite a world class goal from Sam Kerr, the Matildas couldn’t produce enough to continue their dream run on home soil, but they have registered their best finish at a World Cup and still have the chance to fight for bronze. For England though, they are now just one hurdle away from bringing football home once again.

Aston Villa star and Lioness Lucy Staniforth spoke with NationalWorld to reflect on England’s World Cup campaign so far as we look ahead to a blockbuster final against Spain. Naturally, she was full of praise for her teammates and she gave us a prediction for Sunday as well live from the latest McDonald’s England World Cup screening.

“They looked unshaken and they’ll be looking forward to going into the final after a fantastic, well deserved win,” Staniforth said. “I think people were right to be nervous. Obviously with the home crowd, you feel that might really put Australia in a strong position in the game, but we really rose to the occasion. Even when Sam Kerr scored, I'm sure that stadium erupted and they [England] just said ‘next goal’ straight after. So I guess that's exactly what you would wish for from the team.”

Ella Toone opened up her World Cup account with a stunning strike to give England the lead after 36 minutes on the clock. Kerr’s rocket levelled the scoreline just after the hour mark but Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo were on hand to take the lead and kill the game off late on.

Staniforth travelled with the England camp prior to the tournament kick-off as part of Wiegman’s standby list. She replaced Jess Park, who was forced to withdraw due to injury and enjoyed the build-up atmosphere ahead of England’s dominant run.

“I think that the team always believes and know that we've got a really strong team both mentally and with just genuinely talented footballers. We didn't really speak too much in the early stages about expectations or what we wanted to try and achieve,” the midfielder said.

“It was very much a relaxed camp with a lot of experienced players who had been there before, who knew that during those moments it's probably the right time to just switch off and enjoy Australia. So that's what we did in those moments. But I think there's a sort of unwavering belief in the side and you saw that today.”

Staniforth then gave us her prediction for how the final will play out, and it involves the Lionesses lifting their first ever Women’s World Cup high above their heads.

“I think the key players are probably going to be everyone because we're going to need everyone. If we can get the ball to Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo in positions that they got in today, Spain will really have some troubles.

“When those moments come, we have to be sharp, like we have been today. In terms of prediction, I'm going to say 2-1 [to England] again. I think that Spain have a knack of getting annoying goals in this World Cup, but I think that England will just prove too much for them.”

Lucy Staniforth was supporting the Lionesses in their semifinal of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ match at a McDonald’s screening in Nottingham. McDonald’s is showing up for football fans this summer as the official restaurant sponsor of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™