Katie Cox: 'The sky is the limit for this team'

England women’s under-19s head coach Lauren Smith praised her squad after the Young Lionesses booked their spot at the 2025 UEFA U19 EUROs.

Smith’s team made it three wins from three this month in the second qualifying round to secure their place at this year’s tournament which takes place in Poland.

“The players have been unbelievable,” said Smith. “We’ve worked on a few different elements of our game and they’ve come out in every game we’ve played. To be able to qualify after game two allowed us a little bit of space.

“It all goes down to the players really. They’ve worked really hard, they’ve focused hard and the team performances they’ve put in have been excellent.

“Ultimately, they’ve all played a huge part and it’s about going to the EUROs with a strong squad of 20 and it’s going to be very hard to choose!”

Smith’s side ran out 6-0 winners over Belgium on home turf at St. George’s Park in their first clash of the international window, before beating Austria 5-1 – a result which, coupled with Ukraine's defeat to Belgium, confirmed that England would be competing in the U19 EUROs in June.

And the Young Lionesses picked up where they left off on Tuesday, hitting Ukraine for ten to end their qualifying campaign on a high.

“I think it’s gone so well this week,” continued Smith. “In Spain, when we had our first camp with the under-17s stepping up, it was obviously a first taste but this camp has allowed us to really gel as a group, see each other’s qualities and find ways of playing and connecting together.

“I think you’ve seen that in certainly the first two games which were tough ones and really quite a lot of pressure on those games for us after round one.”

Now, the Young Lionesses are looking ahead to the summer, including Chelsea keeper Katie Cox, who started England’s match-ups against Belgium and Austria.

“All the girls are very happy with the way it’s ended,” noted Cox. “We’ve finished on the highest high – 10-0 against Ukraine.

“Over the tournament, each game was getting better and figuring out what we can add to the team individually and bring the team together for our finals tournament. We’ve definitely come together really well. Everyone’s been able to add their different experiences.”

Having been involved in last year’s U19 Women’s EUROs which were hosted by Lithuania, Cox – who helped England reach the semi-finals where they were defeated by eventual champions Spain – insisted the Young Lionesses have their sights set on going even further this time around.

“We can definitely take so much from last year and with the new skillset and players we’ve got in this team, we can go so much further,” said Cox. “The sky is the limit for this team.”

“We’re going into this tournament knowing that we’ve got experience through the group but ultimately, it’s about what they do in the future and them being able to fall back on these experiences when they’re playing for the seniors hopefully one day in EURO finals and World Cups,” added Smith.

“It’s all about gathering these experiences and opportunities – it’s a huge moment for them all.”