How brilliant is Arsenal and England's Beth Mead?

Beth Mead already had a prolific reputation as a scorer and creator of goals for Arsenal and England prior to UEFA Women's EURO 2022, but it was that tournament which confirmed her place at the pinnacle of the game.

She scored six goals and got five assists, both finals-leading totals, to finish as Top Scorer and be named Player of the Tournament as England lifted the trophy. Serious injury then struck, but Mead worked her way back and, in 2025, she set up Arsenal's winner in their UEFA Women's Champions League final defeat of Barcelona before winning another Women's EURO decider.

What they say
"Sometimes when you come into a team as a coach, you have seen players playing on video and you have an idea of them. I saw positive things in her, but she absolutely blew my mind with her qualities when I came here."
Jonas Eidevall, former Arsenal manager

"She shoots the ball between the posts and bar and does really well! We create chances and sometimes we want to be more ruthless, but Beth is really eager in front of goal. She has done really well."
Sarina Wiegman, England manager

Beth Mead with the Women's EURO trophyUEFA via Getty Images

"I think we all know that Beth didn't go to the Olympics [in 2021] and she's proven and shown exactly what type of a player she is. She is a top, top player full of confidence right now. We're all so proud of her."
Jordan Nobbs, former Arsenal and England team-mate and former colleague at Middlesbrough and Sunderland

Claims to fame
Sunderland
• Having played with boys up to the age of ten, Mead joined the Centre of Excellence at Middlesbrough but at 16 switched to Sunderland.

• Mead swiftly broke into the Sunderland team and, in her first full season for 2011/12, was 18-goal top scorer as they won the second-tier Women's Premier League National Division. She then repeated the trick the next season.

• Sunderland won the new Women's Super League (WSL) 2 in 2014, with Mead again the club's top scorer.

Sunderland's Beth Mead announced herself to the WSL with a goal away to LiverpoolLiverpool FC via Getty Images

• In 2015, Mead played in England's top WSL division (scoring in a 2-1 defeat of champions Liverpool in her first game) and was league top scorer on 12 goals as Sunderland finished fourth. Mead was voted the league's Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year.

• After 77 goals in 78 Sunderland games, Mead joined Arsenal in January 2017.

Arsenal
• She made a quiet and injury-hit start at Arsenal. Ahead of her first full WSL season at the club, their signing of Vivianne Miedema meant a move to a wide position for Mead.

Beth Mead is unveiled by ArsenalArsenal FC via Getty Images

• Mead soon thrived in her new role and was Arsenal's 2017/18 top league scorer, while also being voted Football Supporters' Association player of the year. Arsenal won the WSL Cup.

• In 2018/19, Mead was part of a deadly Arsenal attack, getting a WSL record 12 assists as they won the league and scoring a spectacular goal in their title-clinching 4-0 victory at Brighton.

• Mead got her first taste of the Women's Champions League in 2019/20, and scored in the quarter-final loss to Paris Saint-Germain.

• Mead continued to thrive for Arsenal domestically but stepped it up a level in 2021/22 under new coach Eidevall with 14 goals and 19 assists in 40 Gunners games, also featuring high in defensive as well as attacking individual statistics. She created 72 chances in the WSL season, 24 more than the next best. On top of that, she again featured in a Women's Champions League quarter-final.

• Started the 2022/23 Women's Champions League group stage with two goals in Arsenal's stunning 5-1 win at holders Lyon.

• However, those were her last goals of the season after an ACL rupture suffered against Manchester United in November. Mead signed a new Gunners contract the following month and in December became the first female footballer to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the major cross-sport award in the UK.

• Returned to action on 15 October 2023, coming off the bench against Aston Villa to help inspire an added-time comeback as Arsenal turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory, with Mead setting up Alessia Russo's winner.

• Helped Arsenal reach the 2025 Women's Champions League final (beating Lyon in the semis), and then came off the bench to produce a brilliant pass to set up Stina Blackstenius for the only goal of the decider as the Gunners defeated Barcelona 1-0 in Lisbon.

England
• Having moved up the youth ranks and played at the 2012 UEFA Women's U19 EURO, Mead helped England reach the 2013 final in Wales, losing in extra time to France. Her haul of three goals in the tournament was only bettered by Pauline Bremer. As a result, Mead and England went to the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Canada.

Beth Mead at the 2012 Women's U19 EUROSPORTSFILE

• Mead had to wait until April 2018 to make her senior England debut as a substitute against Wales in a FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier watched by 25,603 people in Southampton.

• Mead opened her England account with a double away to Kazakhstan later that year, and struck against both Brazil and Japan at the SheBelieves Cup in March 2019.

• A key part of England's team at the 2019 Women's World Cup in France, Mead provided assists in the 1-0 group defeat of Argentina, 3-1 quarter-final win against Norway and 2-1 last-four loss to the United States.

• However, after Phil Neville's departure as England coach in early 2021, Mead found chances limited under interim replacement Hege Riise, who left her out of the Great Britain Olympic squad.

• Mead's fortunes turned again when Wiegman took the England helm in September 2021. Even before Women's EURO 2022 kicked off, Mead had struck 14 goals in the season (including become the first woman to score a hat-trick at Wembley, against Northern Ireland) – a new record for a men's or women's England senior team.

• More records were smashed as England won Women's EURO 2022 on home soil. Mead equalled the record goal tally of six, and also got five assists, to finish as Top Scorer. Her five efforts in the group stage, including a hat-trick in the 8-0 defeat of Norway, represented an outright record, and Mead became the first player in the tournament's history to score in all three group games (matched by Alex Popp the following night).

• Unsurprisingly, Mead was named Player of the Tournament. Her performances also helped her finish second in the voting for the UEFA Women's Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or awards, and Mead claimed the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year prize as well as being BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

• England wrapped up 2023 World Cup qualifying not long after Women's EURO 2022, Mead ending the campaign with 13 goals and a joint-best 12 assists. However, injury ruled her out of the finals.

• Part of England's successful title defence at Women's EURO 2025, she got on the scoresheet on Matchday 3 against Wales and was brought down for the penalty from which (via a rebound) England defeated Italy to reach the final.

What you might not know
• Mead attended Teesside University while with Sunderland, reading Sports Development. In 2022, the university launched a Beth Mead Scholarship to support female students also pursuing a professional football career.

• Among things named after Mead following her EURO 2022 exploits were an octopus at Sea Life Scarborough, a bus in her home region of North Yorkshire and a beer in London.

What she says
[On playing senior football for Sunderland at 16] "Playing against women while I was still a teenager, that was a huge step for me and a bit bewildering at the time. I was used to having people my age shout at me, but here I had 28-year-olds telling me that I needed to be better. That was the exposure I needed, though, and I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't pushed by the people closest to me [encouraging her to join Sunderland]."

[On being switched to the wing at Arsenal] "The good thing for me is that I know what the No9 likes. I know strikers love to run onto early crosses, so I think that's where I had the upper hand on most wingers. I started to get regular game time and, when I realised the wing suited me, I guess I just created my own style."

[On winning EURO 2022] "I can't believe it. Sometimes football cuts you down, but bouncing back is the best thing to do. I'm still in shock; I can't believe we won it. I am so proud of this team.

"Walking down the street has been a little bit different, being recognised a lot more. I went on holiday and people recognised who I was there, which I found a bit crazy as I wasn't in England any more."

[On winning the 2025 Women's Champions League final, setting up a goal for Stina Blackstenius, both of who started on the bench] "I have been at the club nearly nine years and want to be playing in these finals but I am experienced enough to know that sometimes you have to make a difference in different ways. I knew I could come on to the pitch with Stina and make a difference, that’s what we both did."