Keira Walsh
Club: Chelsea
Caps: 86 (1 goal)
Born: 8 April 1997, Rochdale
Debut: Kazakhstan (World Cup qualifier) on 28 November 2017
Walsh remains the world’s most expensive midfielder having broken the transfer record when she ed Barcelona for £400,000 from Manchester City in 2022, and Chelsea again spent big money in 2024 to bring her back to the WSL.
She is considered one of the greatest players in her position and of this England generation, despite often avoiding the limelight. Like most defensive midfielders, her best work is the simple stuff. She dictates the tempo, controls play, reads the game well and finds pockets of space effectively.
These were important traits for England as she played all but five minutes at Euro 2022 and was named player of the match in the final, after an exquisite assist for Ella Toone's opening goal.
She won back-to-back European titles with Barcelona before returning to England in January and, although her form has dipped slightly during her debut season at Chelsea, she still played a key role as they secured an unbeaten domestic Treble.
Walsh, who has the third highest number of caps in the squad, will be one of the first names on the team sheet in Switzerland but her England career has not always gone smoothly. In 2019 she worked with psychologists as she considered quitting football following a disappointing World Cup in .
