England Aluko was called into the
England set-up as a 14-year-old. She chose to remain loyal to the English coaches who had given her the opportunity to play international football, but said: "The main thing for me is for people to understand that choosing to play for England doesn't mean that I don't support Nigeria. I'm as much Nigerian as I'm British. Of course Nigeria means a lot to me, it's part of me, but I've been brought up by English coaches." Having represented England at Under-17 level, Aluko scored on her debut at Under-19 level and appeared in the
UEFA Under-19 European Championship Finals in Germany in July 2003 while aged only 16 years. She later played at Under-21 level, before making her senior debut, aged 17, against
the Netherlands in September 2004. Her first senior goal came against the
Czech Republic at
Walsall in May 2005, and she added two more in the 13–0 away win against
Hungary that October. Aluko played in
UEFA Women's Euro 2005, despite a clash with her
A-Level studies. She sat a history exam on the morning of England's 2–1 defeat to
Denmark. In the final group game against
Sweden Aluko almost scored a bizarre equaliser, but was left disappointed as hosts England lost 1–0 and exited the competition. At the
FIFA Women's World Cup 2007, Aluko featured in group matches against
Japan and
Argentina, as well as the 3–0 quarter-final defeat by the
United States. After the tournament, she was critical of
The Football Association and the level of financial support provided to England's top female players. Aluko featured much more prominently at
UEFA Women's Euro 2009, scoring in the group match win over
Russia and adding two more in the quarter-final victory over hosts
Finland. She also provided an assist for
Kelly Smith's opening goal in the semi-final against the
Netherlands. In the final Aluko played the left-wing as England were mauled 6–2 by
Germany in
Helsinki. Aluko scored against
Switzerland in September 2010 as England qualified for the
FIFA Women's World Cup 2011. During the final tournament, Aluko responded to public criticism of her performance in the 1–1 draw with
Mexico, in which she failed to convert multiple goalscoring opportunities. She was substituted at half–time in the following group match against
New Zealand, and dropped to the bench for the final group match with
Japan, playing the last half an hour of England's 2–0 win. Aluko was an unused substitute as England were eliminated by
France at the quarter final stage. As England qualified for the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Aluko finished as the joint-top scorer in
qualifying with 13 goals, which included her first
hat-trick in a 10–0 thumping of
Montenegro, and braces against
Turkey and
Ukraine. At the Finals tournament, Aluko started both of England's first two group matches, a 1–0 defeat by France and a 2–1 win over
Mexico. Having missed the last group match and the knockout stages, England defeated Germany for the very first time, 1–0 after extra time to win bronze medals. Aluko was not called up to the national team after May 2016,following a confidential review of England team culture where she raised issues of racist statements by Mark Sampson made to her and England teammate Drew Spence. She was paid around £60,000 by the
Football Association in an employment tribunal settlement for loss of future earnings. The Football Association later publicly apologised to Aluko at the select committee hearing of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (with some DCMS MPs calling for relevant FA officials to resign over their handling of the case) after the same barrister found racist remarks were made to her and teammate
Drew Spence, following a third investigation. At
UEFA Women's Euro 2017, Aluko worked as a pundit for
Channel 4. When England's entire team—led by
black forward
Nikita Parris—pointedly ran to celebrate with coach Sampson after scoring in their next match against
Russia, Aluko publicly criticised her former team-mates, accusing them of selfishness, lacking respect and requiring diversity training. Parris later apologised to Aluko in an open letter in June 2020 admitting that the celebration with coach Sampson was a "thoughtless action" that showed a lack of empathy, understanding and ignorance given that Sampson was under investigation for making racially discriminatory remarks to Aluko and fellow player
Drew Spence for which the FA later apologised. In an interview with
The Daily Telegraph, England right-back
Lucy Bronze questioned whether Aluko was now good enough to be in England's squad. Aluko remained surprised and disappointed at a perceived lack of support for her position from England's current players. The FA investigation had received evidence of Aluko's own "negative" behaviour, yet no specific examples of such negative behaviour were ever provided in the FA investigation report or by any England players to evidence the serious allegation . Sampson's successor as England coach,
Phil Neville, did not select Aluko either. Aluko was given number 154 when the FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England's inaugural international.
International goals for England :''Scores and results list England's goal tally first.''
Great Britain 2012 Olympics In June 2012, Aluko was named in the 18-player
Great Britain squad for the
2012 London Olympics. She made her Great Britain debut, in its first ever official fixture, in a friendly goalless draw with
Sweden at the
Riverside Stadium,
Middlesbrough on 20 July 2012, starting and playing the entire match. At the Olympic football tournament, Aluko started all three groups matches, which included wins over
New Zealand,
Cameroon and in front of over 70,000 at Wembley, twice Olympic silver-medalists
Brazil. Aluko won a penalty in the Brazil match, which
Kelly Smith missed. Britain advanced to the quarter-finals as group winners. Aluko also started as Britain lost 2–0 to
Canada in the quarter-finals, courtesy of two early goals, and ended hopes of at least reaching a match for an opportunity at a medal. Aluko had a strong appeal for a second-half penalty dismissed.
2016 Olympics Despite
England's third-place finish at the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, which Aluko was a part of, earning Great Britain one of the three available European slots for the
2016 Rio Olympics, it was already decided Great Britain would not send a women's team to the event. It meant Aluko did not add to her tally of five Great Britain caps, with participation at the
2020 Tokyo Olympics the next earliest available opportunity. ==Executive career==