Dutch trainer Wiegman and England team to be honoured with a statue at Wembley Stadium
Update: The time of the final match was corrected. It was scheduled to be played at noon on Sunday.
Sarina Wiegman, the Dutch football coach who currently leads the England women's national team, may have a statue at Wembley Stadium in London even if her team does not win Sunday’s World Cup final, British media reported on Friday. The statue will be a tribute to the entire team, not just Wiegman, according to the Chief Officer of the English Football Association Mark Bullingham.
On Wednesday, her team reached the 2023 Women's World Cup final with a 3-1 victory over host nation Australia. With this win, the 53-year-old from The Hague became the first football coach to lead teams from two different countries to a World Cup final. England will play the World Cup Final on Sunday at noon Dutch time against Spain.
When asked about erecting a statue for the Dutch trainer, England Football Association chief Mark Bullingham said, “She can have whatever she wants, she’s incredible,” The Telegraph reported on Friday.
According to Bullingham, discussions for a statue began after she led England to win the European Championship last year. “It’s something we were looking at post Euros, we’ve made progress on that and it would be right to have something to commemorate that success outside Wembley,” he said.
However, he pointed out that the statue would be a tribute to the whole team and not just Wiegman, though he was unable to give further details. “We’ve made progress with the discussions, but I don’t think we can announce any more than that yet. You have to go through various permissions – we’ve gone through that. The next stage is working on the design,” he explained.
Wiegman already has a statue outside the headquarters of the Royal Dutch Football Association in Zeist since 2021. Before taking the reins of the England women's national football team, Wiegman coached the Oranje Lionesses. Under her leadership, the Dutch team won the 2017 European Championship and reached the World Cup final in 2019, where they lost to the United States. She left the Oranje Lionesses to coach the England women's national football team in 2020.
In February, she was once again named Coach of the Year at the FIFA World Football Association’s gala in Paris. She had previously won this prestigious title in 2017 and 2020.
