Georgia Stanway scored a hat-trick as England produced a scintillating attacking display to secure a record Lionesses win at Wembley, thrashing China 8-0.
Stanway’s treble, a quickfire double from Beth Mead and further goals from Lauren Hemp, Ella Toone and Alessia Russo gave manager Sarina Wiegman her 50th win in charge. The match was England’s first at the national stadium since they successfully defended their Euro 2025 title in Switzerland earlier this year.
With goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and deputy Khiara Keating injured, Wiegman handed 30-year-old Anna Moorhouse her England debut. The Orlando Pride keeper was barely undisturbed as England dominated an undercooked China side, who were playing their first match since July.
It took the hosts just 12 minutes to go ahead when Lucy Bronze overlapped down the right and fed Mead. The Arsenal forward controlled with her left before lashing home with her right. Moments later Hemp set up Toone down the opposite flank and Mead finished at the far post to make it 2-0.
England then scored three goals in four minutes when Hemp – making her first international appearance since the Euros after injury – finished from close range after a move involving Russo and Stanway. The fourth arrived after 23 minutes when China goalkeeper Pan Hongyan punched Hemp’s cross straight to Stanway, who volleyed into the crowded box and in.
The fifth came in the 38th minute after a VAR check showed Rangers defender Li Mengwen had blocked Russo’s volley with an outstretched arm; Stanway converted the penalty. She completed her hat-trick eight minutes into the second half, combining with Toone before slotting home.
Toone struck again in the 71st minute, capitalising on a defensive mix-up to roll the ball into an empty net, and seven minutes later she teed up Russo, who slid in England’s eighth.
“I am very happy. The most important thing was that we started fast today,” Stanway told ITV. “We got a few goals in the opening minutes and that’s game-changing. We knew we would have moments of dominating the ball and then it was about getting in behind early. Everyone turning out, we appreciate it. We hope for more moments like that.”
Wiegman defended her decision not to hand debuts to a number of younger faces during the rout, saying the substitutions she made were enough and emphasizing the competition for places in the 25-player squad. “We take every game seriously,” she said. “When we sub three players at half-time, I think that’s enough. We have a squad of 25 and there’s many players that are really knocking on the door.”
She also praised the Wembley support. “It’s always really incredible to come here, and then with these amount of fans, it’s just really incredible. I’ve never, ever taken it for granted. What we really wanted to do was start well… after that, I thought we started playing really well, we got a little bit more time on the ball and then you could see how good we are.”
England will round off another memorable 12 months and continue their build-up to next year’s World Cup qualifiers with a final friendly against Ghana at St Mary’s on Tuesday.