LONDON — England won the Arnold Clark Cup for the second year in a row and got their women’s World Cup preparations off to a perfect start with a 6-1 win over runners-up Belgium at Bristol’s Ashton Gate.
The European champions, who beat Italy and South Korea in their other two games, stretched their unbeaten run to 29 matches under Sarina Wiegman.
The Lionesses took a deserved lead on 12 minutes in front of a 26,000-strong crowd when Chloe Kelly, who ended the tournament as top scorer, scrambled the ball into the net after a run into the area by Lauren James.
Leah Williamson headed in the second just before the break when Lucy Bronze floated a cross into the box.
Kelly then scored her second of the night five minutes into the second half when she tapped in a rebound from Belgium goalkeeper Nicky Evrard, and it became 4-0 in the 78th when Julie Biesmans turned the ball into her own net.
In a three-goal final flurry, Bronze made it 5-0 in the 88th before Belgium grabbed a consolation goal in stoppage time through Elena Dhont and Williamson bagged her second a minute later.
The Arnold Clark Cup is an invitational tournament hosted in England and first played in 2022, where four teams meet each other once in a round-robin format.
The women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand runs from July 20 to August 20, Reuters reported.
England’s Lauren James has won the Player of the Tournament award, an accolade given to the best young player on show.
James was one of the Lionesses’ stand-out performers as they retained the Arnold Clark Cup, beating South Korea, Italy and Belgium to do so.
The 21-year-old was named Player of the Match in England’s first game after winning a penalty and scoring her first senior international goal. That performance prompted her captain, Leah Williamson, to describe her as “a cheat code”.
Against Italy, she provided a superb assist for Rachel Daly, and then she rounded off her tournament by setting up Chloe Kelly to open the scoring against Belgium.
James has been in superb form for Chelsea this season and is now translating that onto the international stage ahead of this summer’s Women’s World Cup, with the forward almost certain to be on the plane to the tournament as a result.
