Lucy Bronze rolls back the years in reminder of Lionesses’ golden summer | England women’s football team

There was a very summer 2022 feel to this England victory. From the throwback of seeing a confident Beth Mead finding acres of space down the right, to Keira Walsh hitting defence-splitting passes with ease, to a sold-out crowd enjoying the embers of the sunny weather and creating a party atmosphere as they revelled at the entertaining, attacking football being played by the European champions, with a level of cohesion rarely seen since the World Cup. The lineup was reminiscent of that 2022 Euros success too, with seven of this starting side here having been key components of the team that won the European title.

Rolling back the years even further, though, was Lucy Bronze, because there was something very World Cup 2015 about the performance of the best player on the pitch.

England’s seemingly ageless right-back reminded everybody that, at 33, she can still influence a game just like she could at her first World Cup in her early 20s.

Whether overlapping Mead, underlapping Mead or just lapping up the applause of the adoring crowd, the Chelsea full-back seemed to be in her element, displaying bursts of pace usually expected of the fresher up-and-coming youngsters, displaying the nous to kick-start several of England’s best attacks, and being an informal leader on the pitch by setting an example to the rest of the team to play with purpose, conviction and to carry out the simple plan – get England in behind the Belgium defence as frequently as possible. To that end, she combined with Mead masterfully.

Bronze demonstrated her strength in the air, too, not only in scoring the opening goal, guiding Lauren James’ cross home with the help of a deflection, before later darting towards the near post at a corner to provide the perfectly placed flick-on for Millie Bright to add the hosts’ second goal. Bronze had also scored on this very same ground against the same opposition in February 2023, and this five-goal victory was England’s biggest winning margin on home soil since that same night, a 6-1 win, against the same opposition at Ashton Gate.

During one particularly lung-busting run up the right flank, on the night of her 130th cap, Bronze left three Belgium defenders in her wake, bringing the home fans in the adjacent Lansdown Stand to their feet. After the game, asked what her secret was to still maintaining her peak physicality nearly 12 years on from her international debut, Bronze pointed to her affection for the unseen graft behind the scenes and her personal enthusiasm for some of the less appealing elements of recovery as an athlete.

“I love it, I do the things I’m supposed to do. Myself and Millie [Bright] have always spoken about doing the right things off the pitch so that we can stay on the pitch, keep fighting and working hard, and I think you see that from both of us, two of the oldest players. I enjoy having ice baths and protein shakes, and things like that.

“I love pushing the players around me, well. I’m excited every time I put an England shirt on, and, yes, I think it’s the same from my first cap to tonight.”

The England head coach, Sarina Wiegman, had high praise for Bronze as well: “She is an impressive personality and a very impressive player. She is intelligent too. She is one of the leaders in our team. In moments she feels she needs to be really aggressive and that comes across. I’m happy she’s in good form and is important for the team.”

That leadership element to Bronze’s all-round game is something they will be grateful to utilise in Switzerland and – if they are lucky – at the 2027 World Cup, but it would only be natural for England fans to wonder how much longer the five-times Women’s Champions League winner can keep performing at such an elite level. After all, the great Karen Carney retired just before her 32nd birthday and England’s women’s record goalscorer Ellen White hung up her boots at 33, the same age that Bronze is now. But this is clearly a player with no intention of slowing down soon, as she continues to demonstrate her most powerful character trait: hunger.

Any reporter who was present in the media interview area after England’s 2023 World Cup final loss to Spain will recall Bronze’s response when it was intimated to her that perhaps that might have been her last tournament. “I’m not retiring,” she said bluntly, appearing wholly disappointed and perhaps even somewhat offended by the suggestion. And on the evidence of Friday night, why should that even be considered?

Maybe seeing a 43-year-old Bronze marauding down the right at the 2035 Women’s World Cup, which is almost certain to be hosted in the United Kingdom after Thursday’s confirmation that the UK is the sole bidder, might be a bit of a stretch. Perhaps. But who knows? Bronze has been one of England’s most dependable performers for more than a decade and deserves to go out on her own terms, at a time entirely of her own choosing. And when she plays well, England tend to play well too.