Her last appearance for Chelsea was in our 2-2 draw with West Ham at Kingsmeadow in the Women’s Super League on 31 March. From that point until the start of Women's Euro 2025, James played just 30 minutes in an international warm-up friendly against Jamaica on 29 June.

‘She will likely come off the bench - we can manage that a bit,’ England boss Sarina Wiegman told reporters before that 7-0 friendly win at the King Power Stadium. ‘She showed up in the training sessions really well. She could cope with loads and recover from loads.

‘She's ready; we're just still growing into minutes. This is the first time in a while that she's coming into a game.’

As it turned out, 30 minutes was all she needed.

James provided an assist for Alessia Russo soon after coming on as a substitute for Ella Toone against Jamaica. Wiegman then sprung a surprise when she put the Chelsea star straight into the starting line-up for the Lionesses’ opening group stage match against France. The 23-year-old has made the headlines ever since.

England's first game didn't go to plan. A 2-1 defeat in their opening match meant the Lionesses desperately needed a win against the Netherlands in the second game of the tournament. When a piece of individual brilliance from James put England in front after 22 minutes, it seemed like their tournament had finally sparked into life.

James would score a brace in that 4-0 win, and other members of the England side couldn’t hide their admiration for their team-mate after the match. A ‘phenomenal player’ who ‘thrives under pressure’ was the way Jess Carter described James, while Ella Toone said she was ‘unstoppable’.

Her stellar international form comes off the back of a stop-start campaign with the Blues, interrupted by injury. James played a total of 1,137 minutes in all competitions for Chelsea in 2024/25, making 13 starts and four substitute appearances.

Yet performing well after a spell on the sidelines is nothing new for our number 10. Out with injury at the beginning of the domestic season, James returned and won the penalty that secured a 1-0 win against Arsenal in January, scored a stoppage-time winner against Everton in February and netted the only goal of the game against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup quarter-final in early March.

The forward was also a vital part of our incredible 3-0 comeback win over Manchester City in the second leg of our Champions League quarter-final at Stamford Bridge. Running into the box at pace, James reached the byline and pulled the ball back perfectly for Mayra Ramirez to net the third goal of the evening.

One player who has seen exactly what James can do is Lucy Bronze. The experienced right-back has high hopes for her team-mate for both club and country.

‘We know we just need to get LJ the ball in dangerous positions, and there could be a goal from anything,’ Bronze said before the win over Wales. ‘She's only young, she's not at 100 per cent yet, so hopefully we get through the tournament, and she just keeps getting better and better.

‘She's built really strong, has that power in her legs that you don't see from many female footballers. I think that's something that me and her both speak about it a lot. That's been a big attribute of my game in the past, being really powerful and strong. She's got that and she has the technique to add to it when it comes to shooting and crossing and anything she wants.’

‘She's so dangerous and she's not even at 100 per cent yet. So I'm sure a lot of the left-backs in this tournament, or right-backs or wherever she plays, they'll not be wanting to see that Lauren James shirt coming up against them because she's that frightening.’

After making it through the group stages, the stakes for England have become even higher, with a knockout clash against a well-organised Sweden side up next.

They will have undoubtedly done their homework ahead of Thursday’s quarter-final, and will do their best to prove Ella Toone wrong - by stopping the 'unstoppable' Lauren James.