Lioness Lucy Bronze makes retirement decision clear ahead of 2027 World Cup

Lucy Bronze has no plans to retire from international football as the 2027 World Cup looms.

The England legend has played for her country 145 times and was a key member in the teams which won the European Championship in 2022 and 2025.

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She is the most decorated English female footballer, winning five Champions Leagues and 10 league titles at home and abroad.

Bronze was immense for her country at Euro 2025, including when she crucially opened the scoring for England in the quarter-final against Sweden.

Since the summer, the 34-year-old has been queried about a potential retirement due to her age but shows no signs of stopping and was named in the 2025 FIFPRO World XI.

On talkSPORT’s Women’s Football Show, the ex-Barcelona star insisted that she has her eyes set on the World Cup next year in Brazil.

Bronze said: “Psychologically, I’ve got loads to give. I think physically, you naturally decline but I’m not stupid to think I’m the same physicality as I was maybe when I was 28, 29, at the real peak of my game.

“But I still know that I worked so hard in those years that I’ve got quite a good base to fall back on, I feel good and I enjoy it.

“The funny thing is I think it probably gets mentioned more now because I’m clearly the oldest at England and my age is like a bit of an anomaly with most teams anyway.

“When we won the Euros the first time in England, 2022, I had just turned 30, the first question I got asked was, ‘So you’re going to retire now?’

“So I’ve already kind of went through those demons of like, do I retire? Am I supposed to be here? I’ve already had those questions years ago.

“I feel fine and it’s something that I’ve got over, that whole ‘I’m not retiring yet’, as long as I feel good and there’s a team that wants me to play.

“If Sarina wants to pick me for England I’m going to keep going until I don’t enjoy it anymore, basically.”

Bronze has been ruthless for her country in the past and previously after the Euro 2025 final revealed that she had been playing with a fractured left tibia.

Her rehabilitation delayed her start to the season with Chelsea but upon her return she secured a victory and a clean sheet against London City Lionesses.

She’s so far made 17 appearances this season for the west London club and has scored two goals in the Champions League.

There’s a high possibility the World Cup could be Bronze’s final international tournament, leaving the Lionesses to find a replacement at right-back.

There are current England regulars who are flexible across the back, including Jess Carter and Esme Morgan.

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However, Maya Le Tissier has emerged as an option for Wiegman’s team, with Tottenham youngster Ella Morris also considered before she sustained an injury earlier this season.

When asked who she believes will adapt to her role the best in the future, she said: “There’s so many good young players and they’re so talented, I just think there’ll never be another one of anyone.

“I just like to think that what you see of me in an England shirt when I play the games, that’s how I am when I train with England. I demand so much from the girls around me and I always put in 100 per cent.

“I just hope that they just look at me and think, ‘Oh, Lucy’s done it and look what she’s done in her career’.

“I hope that they just take it, even if it’s a small piece of that and they hold it when they play for England, that’s my job done.

“I feel like that was me growing up, playing for England and watching how everybody else did it and I was like, ‘Okay, I need to step up.’

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“So I think there’s never going to be another one of anyone, and obviously Alex Scott did that for me.

“I do think a lot of them are like, ‘What was it like when you were younger?’ They asked for different stories and they really listened.

“So there’s definitely a good group coming through and I don’t know who’s going to take the right-back spot, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

The Lionesses take on Spain, the team they lost to in the last World Cup final, in qualifiers next month for the tournament in Brazil.