Inside Lionesses Ella Toone and Alessia Russo's childhood friendship

More than just footie friends, the Lionesses’ star players Ella Toone and Alessia Russo go way back and their sickly sweet bond has made fans go ‘ahh’ one adorable social media shout-out at a time. 

Growing up together, the England players shot to fame after winning the Euros with the squad last summer and have continued to capture the hearts of the nation with their unwavering support for one another. 

Ella, 23, and Alessia, 24, have played together since they were just 12 years old and their time spent tag-teaming at Manchester United allowed for an almost telepathic connection on the pitch with their national team. 

As the women – led by coach Sarina Wiegman – tackle Spain for the coveted World Cup trophy in Sydney, Australia this Sunday, here’s a look inside the #friendship goals that is ‘Tooney & Lessi Russoooooo’…

How did Ella Toone and Alessia Russo first meet? 

The Tyldesley, Manchester native first met the Maidstone, Kent player when she was just 12 years old. 

Forming a fast friendship, the soon-to-be iconic duo became joint at the hip after they both signed contracts to play alongside each other at Manchester United. 

Spending three years learning to work as one, the close friends expressed their heartache as Alessia decided to leave the north and return down south to play with Arsenal in January. 

Commenting on her pal’s big move, Ella took to TikTok to share a message of support with Alessia, saying: ‘Away from football, I just wanted to say best of luck to my best friend Alessia, moving clubs.

‘I’m really proud of you and hope you smash it, I’m definitely going to miss you and spending time with you every single day.

‘But I know you’ll be great and I know we’ll be friends forever. Love ya, miss ya and enjoy it.’

The high-profile goal-scorer reciprocated her friend’s loving words and told GQ: ‘There are so many highs and lows in football and to have a constant in your best friend throughout that is really nice.

‘We’ve seen each other at our best and worst. We’ve had the highest of highs last summer winning the Euros together and had some tough points too, but that just makes the friendship stronger. 

‘We’ve been friends since we were 12 or 13, and we’ll be friends forever.’ 

Alessia and Ella prove they’re fashionably glued at the hip 

Crab 1-0 @Alessia Russo 😱🤣 #fifawwc #funny #fyp #lionesses

Despite working together on the field, the best friends regularly appear as a duo in the regular world, joining each other on campaign shoots and for hilarious interviews. 

Most recently, they tried a career in fashion modelling on for size and posed for Elle’s front cover together. 

Adopting edgy outfits for the high-fashion shoot, the pair opened up about their goals as young girls and said: ‘[We] both had the dream of one day playing for England so then to do it and [win], it was special. 

‘I don’t think many best friends can say that they’ve done that.’

Ella chimed in and added to Alessia’s response, admitting she found fame ‘hard to get used to’.

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