Highlights

• Kelly Smith's iconic boot kiss celebration at the 2007 Women's World Cup cemented her status as one of the best England players of all time.
• Gillian Coultard became the first English woman to score a goal at a Women's World Cup in 1995, marking a historic moment for the team.
• England's qualification for the 2007 Women's World Cup after a long absence was an iconic moment, despite their eventual elimination in the quarter-finals.

England are competing at their sixth FIFA Women’s World Cup, with this year's tournament taking place in Australia and New Zealand.

The Lionesses recorded victories against Denmark, Haiti and China to progress to the knockout stages.

They will be hoping to go further than they did in 2015 and 2019, where they exited the tournament after losing in the semi-finals.

Even though England are yet to win the Women's World Cup, GiveMeSport are winding back the clock and listing the country's 11 most iconic moments at the tournament.

1 Kelly Smith kisses her boots, 2007 Women's World Cup

Regarded as one of the best England players of all time, Kelly Smith cemented herself in the FIFA Women’s World Cup history books by producing her iconic boot kiss celebration.

At the 2007 tournament, Hope Powell’s Lionesses’ second game of their campaign was against Japan at the Hongkou Football Stadium in Shanghai, China.

However, after a goalless first half, England went 1-0 down in the 55th minute following a sensational free-kick from Nadeshiko’s Aya Miyama.

But with just 10 minutes left on the clock, Smith did the impossible and managed to put two past Japanese goalkeeper, Miho Fukumoto.

In celebration of the first, the number 10 kicked off her left boot and planted a kiss of gratitude. For the second, Smith went one bigger and took off both of her Umbro football boots.

England teammate at the time Karen Carney scooped up the right boot and showed it to the world before Smith alternated kissing them both.

The iconic celebration may have earned her a warning from ex-England honcho Hope Powell, but it was so worth it, right?

2 Gillian Coultard scores England’s first World Cup goal, 1995 Women's World Cup

Before 100-cap heroes Lucy Bronze, Steph Houghton and Eniola Aluko, there was Gillian Coultard, the first woman to ever reach the milestone.

In 1995, England made their Women’s World Cup debut in a 3-2 win against Canada at the Olympia Stadium in Helsingborg, Sweden.

On June 6, Ted Copeland’s Lionesses were given a penalty kick in the 51st minute, which Coultard stepped up for.

Hitting the back of the Canadian's net, the Lioness wrote herself into the history books and became the first-ever English woman to score a goal at a Women’s World Cup.

3 Hope Powell leads Lionesses to World Cup return, 2007 Women's World Cup

Following England’s World Cup debut at the tournament in 1995, the team failed to qualify in 1999 and 2003.

However, nine years into Powell's career as head honcho, the Lionesses legend and her team finally arrived at the 2007 competition.

Opening their campaign, England drew 2-2 against Japan after Nadeshiko scored late in the game. Their second group match was a goalless draw against eventual champions Germany, while their third was a 6-1 landslide victory over Argentina.

Unfortunately for the team, they were eliminated by the dominant US women’s national team 3-0 in the quarter-finals. But qualifying for the Women’s World Cup after such a long absence? Iconic.

4 Lucy Bronze's goal against Norway, 2019 Women's World Cup

At the 2019 Women’s World Cup, Bronze delivered one of the greatest goals of her career against Norway.

Fresh from charging the Gresshoppene defence, the Berwick-born baller struck the back of the net with a powerful strike.

Famously earning a nod of approval from former England international David Beckham, Bronze’s 2019 goal remains one of her crowning moments. It also definitely helped her claim a silver medal at that year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony.

Of course, the 31-year-old is featuring at her third consecutive World Cup this summer— could it be three times a charm?

5 England wins their first medal of any colour, 2015 Women's World Cup

The 2015 Women’s World marked the first time that England would come away from the tournament with a medal around their necks.

After beating tournament hosts Canada, the Lionesses reached the competition's semi-finals for the first time.

Unfortunately, they ended up losing the game 2-1 against Japan, and booked themselves a place in the third place play-off match instead.

In the final game of the 2015 competition, Fara Williams netted a penalty in the 108th minute and thus helped England claim a bronze medal over their German opponents.

6 Georgia Stanway retakes an England penalty, 2023 Women's World Cup

Including a moment from this year's tournament may be classed as cheating, but Georgia Stanway’s opening game penalty against Haiti is iconic in its own right.

The Lionesses’ designated kick taker stepped up to the plate, but unfortunately missed her first penalty of the Australia and New Zealand-based tournament.

However, VAR showed that 24-year-old Haitian goalkeeper Kerly Théus had come off of her line to make the spectacular save.

Therefore, Stanway was granted a retake, and had the audacity to make the exact same shot as her first penalty.

Luckily for England fans, Théus dived the other way and the Lionesses opened their 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign with a win.

7 11.7 million peak audience watches England vs USA, 2019 Women's World Cup

In 2019, a peak audience of 11.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the 2019 semi-final game between England and the USA.

The game, which eventually fell in the USWNT’s favour, was watched by a peak viewership of 11.7 million women’s football fans.

Defeat aside, the match became the most-watched British television broadcast of the year and helped grow the women’s game in the UK.

Three years later, the 11.7 peak audience was bettered by the staggering 17.4 million fans who tuned in to see England v Germany in the Women’s EURO 2022 final.

8 Only team not to lose to eventual winners, 2007 Women's World Cup

Upon their return to the Women’s World Cup in 2007, England was drawn into a ‘group of death’ alongside Germany, Japan and Argentina.

In their opening group game, the Lionesses drew 2-2 against Japan, before holding Die Nationalelf to a goalless stalemate.

While a nil-nil scoreline isn’t usually anything to shout about, the draw did mean that Powell’s side was the only team to come up against Germany in the competition and not lose.

Of course, Silvia Neid’s side beat Argentina 11-0 and Japan 2-0 in the group stage, before claiming 3-0 victories over North Korea and Norway.

They retained their world champion title after defeating Brazil 2-0 in the final, while England exited the competition in the quarter-finals.

9 England prevail despite Cameroon VAR debacle, 2019 Women's World Cup

On 23 June 2019, England booked their place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over Cameroon.

However, controversy erupted just before half-time after retired England striker Ellen White put the team 2-0 up.

Following her goal, the offside flag was swiftly raised. However, after VAR was consulted, referee Quin Liang eventually awarded the goal.

A plethora of Cameroon players opposed the decision, mobbed Liang, and refused to restart the match in protest.

After the game eventually got back underway, there was another moment of controversy caused by a VAR decision. Ajara Nchout’s strike was ruled offside.

A distraught Nchout was seen breaking down in tears, while the Indomitable Lionesses again forced a long delay in play.

Despite the stop-start nature of the match, Phil Neville’s side prevailed and were admitted to the semi-final game.

It’s a game that has gone down in English football history. However, maybe not for the right reasons.

10 Claire Rafferty steps up for penalty, 2011 Women's World Cup

In the quarter-finals of the 2011 Women’s World Cup, England and France finished extra time 1-1.

A penalty shootout would ensue, with manager Powell later blowing up at her team due to the lack of volunteers.

While many of the senior Lionesses failed to step forward, youngster Claire Rafferty took the plunge and threw her hat in the ring first.

Despite missing her penalty kick, Powell went on to praise the Chelsea star for volunteering while her teammates exhibited a bout of “cowardice”.

She said: “Three times I had to ask [for volunteers] before anyone stepped forward.

"'Where are you?' I was thinking, and then a young kid is the first to put her hand up. And Kelly Smith was dying on her feet, but she stepped up and took one.”

11 Ellen White’s goal celebrations

Outside of Kelly Smith's boot kiss, the second most iconic World Cup goal celebration begins to White.

When scoring goals for club and country, the former number nine would lift her fingers to her face and form ‘goggles’ over her eyes.

In the 2019 Women’s World Cup, White scored six goals and brought her iconic goggles to the world stage.

Speaking about the inspiration behind the celebration, she said: “Me and my husband took a trip to Cologne because we're really interested in the Bundesliga and the Christmas markets.

“We caught a [1. FC Koln] game and the atmosphere was incredible."

White then said that Anthony Modeste scored and did his trademark celebration, which spurned her to mimic him in the Women’s Super League.

She said: “He happened to score in that game and did that celebration, so my husband said, ‘why don’t you do that?’”

"I thought why not."