Jess Carter has said she was relieved when three of her white England teammates joined Lauren James in missing penalties in the Euro 2025 quarter-final shootout against Sweden. Carter, who was the target of online racism during the tournament, feared James would be on the receiving end of similar abuse if she had been the only one to miss.
Beth Mead, Alex Greenwood and Grace Clinton then missed as well, but the Lionesses progressed before going on to defeat Spain in the final in another shootout.
Carter told ITV News: “It’s horrible to say, but it’s almost like a sigh of relief when other players that weren’t black missed a penalty because the racism that would have come with LJ [Lauren James] being the only one that missed would have been astronomical. It’s not because we want them to fail – it’s about knowing how it’s going to be for us [England’s black players] if we miss.”
Carter said the abuse she suffered affected her when Sarina Wiegman said she had been selected to play in the final. “It was a mixture of such a big game, but then on top of that scared of whatever abuse might come with it, whether it’s football-based or whether it was going to be the racial abuse that was going to come with it because I did something wrong.
“It makes you feel really small. It makes you feel like you’re not important, that you’re not valuable. It makes you second-guess everything you do – it’s not a nice place to be. It doesn’t make me feel confident going back on to the pitch. My family was so devastated by it as well and so sad.”