Smith hopes Wiegman stays for second shot at World Cup glory

Ex-England international Sue Smith is hopeful that Sarina Wiegman will still be the Lionesses' head coach for the next Women's World Cup.

The Dutch manager suffered defeat for the second time in a World Cup final last Sunday against Spain, after previously losing out with the Netherlands in 2019.

But Smith — who worked with KIND Snacks to create a giant tribute message for the Lionesses to mark their return home from Australia — believes the 53-year-old will stay to have another go in 2027, despite rumours surrounding her future.

Smith exclusively told LiveScore: "I hope that she wants to stay. She has got to the World Cup final twice now so surely she wants to have another go with England.

"She will see the potential in the squad. We have so many players to come back from injury, so many youngsters and there is the potential to go and be successful with the Lionesses.

"The rumours and links come with the territory when you are successful. 

"Other teams are bound to come in for you but I just hope she's happy with England because England are certainly happy with her."

Smith also believes that the England squad have inherited a winning mentality from their coach and will use Sunday's defeat as motivation for future tournaments. 

The 93-cap international said: "They will be disappointed at the moment like we all are but once they reflect on the tournament as a whole they will be proud and they will know that everybody back home will be proud of them.

"The Lionesses will be able to use the defeat as a motivation for next time and there is no doubt that there will be lessons learned from the final. 

"It will be horrible now but when they look back they will use it.

"We have a young group and they will learn and grow together. 

"Without a doubt they will be aiming to keep that consistency of getting into finals because they already have that winning feeling with the Euros. 

"And Sarina will instil that mentality on to the players. She will be looking ahead and thinking about what is next."

Despite returning home without the trophy, Smith believes that this summer's World Cup will have a similar impact to last year's European Championship.

The 42-year-old added: "The Euros being at home meant that fans could actually go to the games and watch it but there are probably only a few lucky fans who have been able to go over and watch it in Australia.

"But if you look at some of the viewing figures and even talking to people in my local village, they are all supporting the girls and as England progressed they became more and more interested.

"The girls are using their success for good and to try and change things for young players that they believe in. 

"I am sure they will be thinking of sending a message to help keep developing women's football like they did with their letter after the Euros."

KIND Snacks have created a giant welcome home message for England, visible from the sky as the Lionesses return from their record-breaking tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

The message, which reads ‘LIONESSES, YOU DID US PROUD’, is visible from a plane at 20,000ft high and made out of thousands of messages of support from the public, including ex-Lioness, Sue Smith.