Georgia Stanway netted her first international hat-trick as England thrashed China 8-0 in a friendly at Wembley Stadium, London.
Beth Mead opened the scoring with two quick-fire goals in the space of two minutes, before she set up Lauren Hemp to dispatch their third goal in the 16th minute,
Stanway scored twice before half-time from a 23rd-minute rebound and 38th-minute penalty after Li Mengwen handballed a free-kick, before she completed her hat-trick with a 52nd-minute finish.
Ella Toone and Alessia Russo completed the victory in England’s biggest victory since a 10-0 demolition of Luxembourg in September 2022.
In front of a sell-out crowd at Wembley, England began on the front foot but struggled to carve open a clear-cut chance until Alessia Russo headed wide from Mead’s 11th-minute cross.
China however failed to heed that warning a minute later as Bronze teed Mead up with a pass up the right, which the latter calmly rifled across into the far-left corner to break the deadlock.
Mead further terrorised China’s defence two minutes later after play out wide fell for Ella Toone to whip a cross towards the right post, where she was able to calmly volley into the left corner on her left foot to net her second goal.
England’s third goal came in the 16th minute from Maya Le Tissier’s diagonal cross, which Russo flicked on for Georgia Stanway to flick across the box for Hemp to poke into her near left corner.
Hemp also added a second goal of her own just four minutes later but she curled wide from Mead’s cross.
Hemp however was key to England’s fourth goal just three minutes later as her cross was flapped by Pan Hongyan, which allowed Stanway to smash low into the bottom left corner on the rebound.
England’s dominance eventually forced a 34th-minute handball from Mengwen during a free-kick and after a four-minute VAR check, Stanway dispatched the penalty into the bottom right corner to effectively seal England’s victory before half-time.
Stanway completed her first senior international hat-trick with a 52nd-minute finish from Toone’s pass to make it 6-0 as England continued to control the game despite a triple substitution at half-time.
Toone added her name to the scoresheet with a ruthless 71st-minute strike from her own interception of Pan’s clearance, before she turned provider seven minutes later to set up Russo to complete a dominant display.
England now conclude 2025 with a first-ever meeting against Ghana on Tuesday 2 December at St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton in a 7pm GMT kick-off.
China meanwhile head to Jerez, Spain, to face Scotland in a friendly at 7pm CET (6pm GMT).
Teams
England: Anna Moorhouse, Lucy Bronze (Hinds 75′), Niamh Charles, Esme Morgan (Wubben-Moy 46′), Maya Le Tissier, Georgia Stanway, Keira Walsh (Kendall 68′), Ella Toone, Beth Mead (Park 46′), Alessia Russo (Beever-Jones 85′), Lauren Hemp (Kelly 46′)
Substitutes: Sophie Baggaley, Aggie Beever-Jones, Laura Blindkilde Brown, Grace Clinton, Anouk Denton, Grace Fisk, Freya Godfrey, Taylor Hinds, Missy Bo Kearns, Chloe Kelly, Lucia Kendall, Jess Park, Ellie Roebuck, Lotte Wubben-Moy
China: Pan Hongyan, Li Mengwen, Dou Jiaxing, Wu Halyan, Wang Linlin, Chen Qiaozhu, Wurigumula (Linyan 46′), Yao Wei, Wang Aifang (Kun 67′), Wang Yanwen (Jiali 67′), Shao Ziqin (Rui 67′)
Substitutes: Huo Yuexin, Jin Kun, Liu Jing, Sun Fangxin, Tang Jiali, Zhang Xin, Zhang Linyan, Zhang Rui, Zhu Yu, Zhu Mengdi,
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