'Incredible' Bronze remains England's gold standard

Lucy Bronze made her 145th senior appearance for England on Saturday, but few of her performances can have been better than this superb all-round display.

The 34-year-old right-back scored the opener on 23 minutes with a fine header following a perfectly timed run to meet Taylor Hinds' cross to ensure England's early pressure paid off.

And with 12 minutes to play, as nerves jangled around the ground amid the Lionesses' failure to extend their advantage, Bronze produced a perfect cross for Georgia Stanway to sweep a volley home and seal three World Cup qualifying points against Iceland.

On the day she surpassed Karen Carney to become the third most-capped England footballer of all time, Bronze showed why she remains the gold standard for the Lionesses on and off the pitch.

"She's an incredible human being," England manager Sarina Wiegman told her post-match media conference when asked by BBC Sport about Bronze's performance.

"She delivers herself and has so much football intelligence, helping the team on and off the pitch."

Bronze has been England's undisputed first choice at right-back for more than a decade, but questions about succession planning have begun to swirl.

She will be 35 by the time of the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil, and Maya le Tissier started at right-back against Ukraine in midweek.

But Bronze's display at the City Ground was note perfect. She took five shots, played 49 passes with 91% accuracy, and in defence helped keep Iceland to one single effort on goal - which was brilliantly saved by Hannah Hampton in her only significant action.

It showed Bronze remains integral to Wiegman's England.

"She plays a big role in the team - she wants to make the World Cup," the Dutch coach said.

"She is also still building minutes, but if you deliver like this on the pitch you are still so important."

The woman Bronze overtook in the England appearance standings led the praise for the two-time European champion.

"That's why Lucy is in the team," Carney told ITV Sport. "She has that mentality, she always demands more and that's why we've won two Euros. She knows what we need to get to next level of winning the World Cup.

"I love that she still demands more, she is still an absolute winner."