Postpublished at 17:30 British Summer Time
England v Italy (Tues, 20:00 BST)
Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter in Geneva
England’s Lucy Bronze on Lionesses support for Jess Carter after racial abuse at Euro 2025
It has not been a smooth tournament for Jess Carter, who has started every game in defence for England, switching positions from left-back to centre-back after a difficult experience in the opening-game defeat by France.
England’s defensive unit has been scrutinised for several months because of their inconsistency, and Carter also endured a tough time against Sweden in their quarter-final, which the Lionesses won in a penalty shootout after coming back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.
She was sent racial abuse on social media following that game, but it is not something new to women’s football.
During the 2023 Women’s World Cup, forward Lauren James suffered similar abuse when she was sent off for standing on the back of Nigerian forward Michelle Alozie in their last-16 victory.
The Lionesses have often aligned with each other in the face of such abuse, and it was a player-led decision for Carter, the Football Association and some of her team-mates to raise the matter again on Sunday.
Carter’s position in the team for Tuesday’s semi-final against Italy was not assured, with Esme Morgan pushing for a start after a good performance in the win over Sweden.
Manager Sarina Wiegman will have a decision to make on whether to protect Carter from further abuse, which has grown across the tournament.
