Never mind the football – the real winner of the Euros is Tolami Benson
Is this the summer it’s finally coming home? Whether you think the England men's team have lucked through, or Gareth Southgate's cautious defensive tactics have paid off, England are now facing Netherlands in the semi-finals of the Euros.
While some people will be watching the action on the pitch, our eyes will be firmly trained on the stands where the real class act of this year’s Euros will undoubtedly be serving. Never mind the football, it’s Tolami Benson, the partner of midfielder Bukayo Saka, who everyone is talking about. The 23-year-old has single-handedly revived the WAG movement thanks to her savvy sartorial choices and photogenic beauty. Benson’s back must be sore by effectively carrying the intrigue of the Euros all on her own.
Benson stands front and centre of a new generation of wives and girlfriends. We’ve come a long way since the dawn of the WAG, with the term entering our lexicon during the 2006 World Cup in Germany’s sleepy Baden-Baden. Tabloids were at the height of their power and regularly crowed over the WAGs’ every extravagance – their shopping sprees at designer outlets described in detail, their Moet-fuelled nights out featuring table dancing stuff of legend.
Now, 18 years later, this age of excess has withered away. No longer so reliant on their symbiotic relationship with the press, WAGs have cut out the pap middleman, communicating directly with fans through social media. Statements are carefully worded, and photos are immaculately airbrushed. Only once have we seen the mask slip and the glimmer of the old days of public friendships and fallouts return; it was (Prada) handbags at dawn for Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy in 2019, with the Wagatha Christie saga becoming as much as a national sport as the football itself.
Now, new WAGs are more elusive; in terms of her unaffected, ordinary status, Benson is less of a celebrity and more of a girl next door – if you just happen to be neighbours with a supermodel. Little is known about the 23-year-old except what she’s chosen to share on her public platforms. While she has dated Saka for five years, she’s no airheaded arm candy wanting to capitalise off her partner’s success – she’s a career woman of her own volition, juggling her job as a senior planning executive at an advertising company with attending match days. There’s nothing wrong with the girlfriend-to-influencer pipeline (and with her fledgling Instagram presence, it’s something Benson could easily transition to), but it's somewhat refreshing that a WAG is continuing to prioritise her own work and maintain normalcy in a world so far out of reach for so many.
It may have been Saka’s equalising goal in the 80th minute against Switzerland that saw the 22-year-old win man of the match during the quarter finals, but it’s Benson’s striking outfits that have never failed to hit the back of the net. Benson has secured her status as fashion’s new darling, with each match day outfit containing a subtle nod to her partner. In the first match against Serbia, all eyes were on Benson as she arrived in a custom leather racing jacket designed by Antonia Bronze, personalised with '87', in reference to Saka’s first number when he started at Arsenal. It was faintly remniscient to the OG WAG Victoria Beckham, who famously donned a similar biker jacket from Dolce & Gabanna's 2001 collection (the very same jacket recently had a second outing, with Beckham's daughter-in-law, Nicola Peltz, wearing the garment on day out with husband Brooklyn in Paris).
Benson stepped things up a gear when England played Denmark, pairing a Prada crop top with a white tennis skirt, of coursed adorned with an England scarf and cap. She also spotlit Off-White during the Switzerland match, with her cute crop top embellished with England merch.
Regardless of whether England do manage to pull it out the bag and take the trophy home, the real winner of the Euros is Benson, who has secured herself an adoring crowd of freshly-found fans. A new It Girl has been born, and in an age as divisive as 2024, that’s no mean feat.
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