Alessia Russo records and stats: How brilliant is the Arsenal and England forward?
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Article summary
We salute Alessia Russo, who has won two consecutive UEFA Women's EURO titles with England and the UEFA Women's Champions League with Arsenal.
Article top media content
Article body
Alessia Russo was instrumental in England's two Women's EURO triumphs and led Arsenal's attack in the Gunners' 2024/25 Women's Champions League-winning campaign.
We profile the prolific forward whose goals, assists and creativity have been key to successes for club and country.
What major titles has Alessia Russo won?
• Women's EURO 2022 winner (England)
• Women's Finalissima 2023 winner (England)
• Women's Champions League 2024/25 winner (Arsenal)
• Women's EURO 2025 winner (England)
Alessia Russo's key stats
• First player to score four goals as a substitute at a Women's EURO
• One of just two English players to score in a quarter-final, semi-final and final at major international tournaments (joint with Ella Toone)
• England's second-highest all-time Women's EURO goalscorer (6 goals, behind Beth Mead on 7)
• Played in the finals of all three major international tournaments she has participated in (2 Women's EUROs, 1 Women's World Cup)
What they say about Alessia Russo
Renée Slegers, Arsenal coach: "As a striker, Alessia's goals often take the spotlight but she brings so much more to our group. She's a selfless player, working so hard for the team, and she also contributes so much to our team culture."
Izzy Christiansen, former England midfielder: "I have loved watching her trajectory. Her reading of the game is second to none. She churns out these high-level, unselfish performances."
Esme Morgan, England defender: "She is such a complete player. She offers so much to the team that is more than just goals. When we play for England, so many of the goals we score, Less is involved four or five passes before the finish."
Beth Mead, England winger, after England 4-0 Sweden (Women's EURO 2022): "The instinct to back-heel it that quickly and through the keeper's legs was a very naughty goal. She's a quality player and I'm not surprised."
Sarina Wiegman, England coach, after England 4-0 Sweden (Women's EURO 2022): "She's a very young player, but she already performs now. The goal needs a lot of courage to do what she did and it was just incredible. It was so unpredictable."
Career path: From Kent to the global stage
Following spells as a youth player with Charlton Athletic, Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion, Russo moved to the USA aged 18 to play for North Carolina Tar Heels while studying.
She returned to England aged 21 and signed for Manchester United in September 2020. The Kent-born striker was part of the first England team to win a Women's EURO title in 2022 and she joined Arsenal the following year.
International success with England
After representing her country at age-group levels, Russo received her first senior international call-up in February 2020 for the SheBelieves Cup in the USA and made her England debut as a substitute against Spain during the tournament.
Her first international goals came in England's 20-0 win against Latvia in November 2021, when she came off the bench to score an 11-minute hat-trick – a Lionesses' record.
Women's EURO 2022
Playing in her first senior international tournament as a 23-year-old, Russo became the first player to score four goals as a substitute at a Women's EURO.
She came off the bench in all six games of England's triumph on home soil, including the final which England won 2-1 against Germany after extra time, and the tournament was widely considered a breakthrough for the then-Manchester United player.
Her back-heeled goal in the Lionesses' 4-0 semi-final victory over Sweden was named goal of the tournament by both the UEFA Technical Observer Group and in a fans' vote, while her strike against Northern Ireland in the group stage also made the top ten.
Women's Finalissima 2023
Russo started for England against Brazil in the inaugural Women's Finalissima, held at Wembley in April 2023, which the Lionesses won on penalties after drawing 1-1.
Women's World Cup 2023
The forward lined up in all seven games and scored three goals as England reached their first FIFA Women's World Cup final, losing 1-0 to Spain in the showpiece in Sydney in August 2023.
Her contributions included scoring in the Lionesses' 6-1 group stage win against China PR, striking the decisive goal in their 2-1 quarter-final success against Colombia and wrapping up the Lionesses 3-1 semi-final win against hosts Australia.
Women's EURO 2025
Russo's England retained their Women's EURO crown in thrilling style in Switzerland, coming from behind in all three knockout phase games to eventually beat Spain on penalties in the final.
Russo scored twice and assisted three goals, including heading the equaliser in the final that took the game to extra time.
She was also one of six Lionesses to find the net against Wales in the group stage, converted a penalty in the decisive shoot-out against Sweden in the quarter-finals and was named Player of the Match after assisting three goals against the Netherlands on Matchday 2. UEFA's Technical Observer Group also included Russo in their Team of the Tournament.
Club career with Arsenal
Russo joined Arsenal from Manchester United on the eve of the 2023 Women's World Cup and won her first silverware with the Gunners in March 2024, coming off the bench in a 1-0 defeat of Chelsea in the Women's League Cup final.
Women's Champions League 2024/25
Russo was part of an Arsenal side that progressed through qualifying and played a record-breaking 15 European games to eventually lift the trophy in Lisbon.
She scored seven goals in the group and knockout stages and was Player of the Match in Arsenal's 3-2 success against Bayern on Matchday 6, which secured top spot in the group.
Russo scored twice in her side's quarter-final second-leg comeback against Real Madrid, when Arsenal spectacularly turned around a two-goal first-leg deficit by winning 3-0, and another in their 4-1 second-leg away victory over OL Lyonnes in the semi-finals.
Russo started in Arsenal's 1-0 defeat of Barcelona in the final in May 2025, as the Gunners won European silverware for the second time — 18 years after their first success.
Her contributions gained her a spot in the UEFA's Technical Observer Group's 2024/25 Women's Champions League Team of the Season and she ranked third in the 2025 Women's Ballon d'Or.
What you might not know about Alessia Russo
Russo played for both the boys' and girls' youth teams at her childhood club, Bearsted Football Club in Kent. While at North Carolina Tar Heels, she played alongside future England and Arsenal team-mate Lotte Wubben-Moy.
As a 17-year-old, Russo won a bronze medal at the 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup with an England team that also included Lauren Hemp, Georgia Stanway and Chloe Kelly.
Her close friendship with England midfielder Ella Toone began aged 12 and the pair, who have recorded a joint podcast about football and their lives off the pitch, represented England together at age-group levels before their successes with the senior team.
What Alessia Russo says
"There's no better feeling than winning a trophy with your team. The team that you've been on a journey with, for whether it be weeks or months or years; you've built these relationships, you've seen each other at the highest and at the lowest, and you know you've all worked so hard for it."
"When I think back to my early days, I loved nothing more than having a ball at my feet, whether it was in the garden with my brothers, in the park with friends or with my grassroots team."
On the legacy of winning Women's EURO 2022: "The success of it was more than we could have ever imagined. We went into it just being a group of players who wanted to win every game, and the magnitude that came after was so special."
"The legacy that we've created — and, hopefully, will continue to create — from that EURO win was massive. We didn't know what we were doing in terms of how much impact we could have and, once we actually won that trophy, the change and the success has been empowering for us as players."
On winning Women's EURO 2025: “I don’t think anything in this tournament has been smooth but we’ve always found a way to win. We did that again [in the final]. Whether in normal time, extra time, penalties – there’s a faith in this team and we’ve done it again.”
On winning the 2024/25 Women's Champions League: "We believed from the moment our Champions League journey started. We knew that we had the capabilities. We knew that we could be good enough – it was just about going and doing it. And we've done it!"
What can Alessia Russo still achieve?
Having won two Women's EURO titles and a Women's Finalissima with England, the only senior international winners' medals missing from Russo's collection are from the Women's World Cup and UEFA Women's Nations League.
Russo needs to reach 53 international goals to overtake Ellen White as England's all-time leading scorer; she is currently on 29 (as of March 2026). Her Arsenal side have been triumphant in Europe, but Russo is yet to win a domestic league title in England.