England have a huge month ahead of them as they try and win another major Trophy. England had tremendous success in 2022 winning the Euros for the first time in history!
They now have a chance follow up on that success by winning the biggest competition in the World. Sarina Wiegman’s side are one of the favourites to win this competition and are expected to compete with the USA to lift the trophy.
England have been drawn in Group D alongside Haiti, Denmark and China with progression through to the knockout stages looking likely. England's group stage fixtures for this year's World Cup are as follows:
- Group D - England v Haiti (Brisbane Stadium) at 10.30am
- Group D - England v Denmark (Sydney Football Stadium) at 9.30am
- Group D - China PR v England (Hindmarsh Stadium) at 12pm
Nobody likes to pre assess things however, there is no doubting that England would be strong favourites to finish top of the group, so we have drawn up potential fixtures that could lead to the final.
England's potential knockout rounds
If England top Group D
- Round of 16: Monday, August 7, 8:30am, Lang Park, Brisbane (most likely Australia, Canada or Republic of Ireland)
- Quarterfinals: Saturday, August 12, 11:30am, Stadium Australia, Sydney (most likely Germany, France, Brazil or Korea Republic)
- Semi-finals: Wednesday, August 16, 11am, Stadium Australia, Sydney (most likely Germany, France, Brazil or Korea Republic)
- Final: Sunday, August 20, 11am, Stadium Australia, Sydney (most likely USA, Sweden, Spain or Norway)
England World Cup Squad
16 selected of the squad won UEFA EURO 2022 while Niamh Charles, Laura Coombs, Lauren James, Esme Morgan, Katie Robinson and Katie Zelem will all be playing at their first major tournament.
Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Rachel Daly, Mary Earps, Alex Greenwood, Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh are all named, having also been part of the squad that reached the 2019 World Cup semi-finals.
Bronze and Greenwood will be playing in their third consecutive World Cup after winning a bronze medal in 2015, while Jordan Nobbs was also part of that squad but missed out four years ago.
Lucy Bronze's success for both club and country highlights her exceptional talent, versatility, and consistent performances at the highest level of women's football.
Bronze played a pivotal role in England's triumph in the Euros as her overlapping runs caused the opposition a lot of trouble. She will hope to do the same this year on the global stage.
The Barcelona star played a crucial role in helping England reach the semi-finals of the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019. In the 2019 World Cup, she scored a stunning goal against Norway and was named in the tournament's All-Star Team.
A big miss is England Captain Leah Williamson, Williamson was the captain on field when England brought football home at the Euros.
In her absence, Chelsea's Millie Bright has been named captain for the tournament but has barely played a match since undergoing minor knee surgery in March.
Despite Bright's number of minutes, she has played a crucial role in England's impressive performances in the previous Women's World Cup tournaments.
In 2019, she helped the team reach the semi-finals, their second-best finish in the history of the tournament. Bright had a formidable partnership with Williamson in recent years which could be a big miss for England.
With any international football tournament, a team’s defence must be formidable if you want to succeed. England have some incredibly talented players in that department but with Williamson missing, others will need to step up to fill that void.
Stars who could create the difference in the attacking areas are Alessia Russo, who was one of the stand-out performers during England's UEFA Women's EURO title winning summer of 2022
Fellow attacker Lauren Hemp has been one of the most exciting young talents in English football for many years and now she is living up to the hype in the Lionesses senior team after starting in all six of the games en route to winning EURO 2022 on home soil.
Chloe Kelly has also been called up who sealed her place in English football history on 31 July 2022 when she scored the extra-time goal to seal a 2-1 victory over Germany in the UEFA EURO 2022 Final at Wembley Stadium.
What the England Manager Sarina Wiegman expects
The Manager Wiegman said: “I have huge belief in this squad and we’re very fortunate to be selecting a fantastic group of players to travel to Australia.
“We know we will face tough challenges from strong teams, and we will have to be competitive from the first match on 22 July. We will do everything to be at our absolute best again this summer.
As Sarina Wiegman sits by the pool in the bright Australian sun, there's only one thing on her mind - winning the World Cup.
"You never know. We came here with a dream and that's what we go for,"
England Feeling Empowered
England have been getting increasingly frustrated after talks have been ongoing for so long. England have expected more of an investment by the FA to recognise the percentage of success this Women’s team has brought to the country.
Discussions have been ongoing since the end of 2022, but more than six months on THEY are still at an impasse.
Bronze too pointed to the impact the Lionesses have had on the domestic game in England, where top-flight women's attendances rose by nearly 200 per cent year-on-year in the wake of their Euro 2022 success last year.
The English team feel like they deserve more, "We are the European Champions. We have changed the game massively in England, so we want everything to fall in line. If we are going to do well on the pitch, then you would expect things to follow."
In the letter, the Lionesses said they were pausing talks to focus on the tournament but had "full intentions" of resuming dialogue once their World Cup campaign is over. Speaking 24 hours after it was sent public, Bronze said it had left her and her team-mates feeling stronger ahead of their World Cup opener.
She said: "I think the players are feeling very empowered. I think it's the first time as a player group we've ever sent the message out ourselves, that we've collectively done together and set our sights on. So, I think in that respect it's been a very empowered player group last night and this morning and these past few weeks.
Bronze and England have made a real difference for Women's football and will only improve for years to come. We wish the women the best of luck this summer and hope they bring it home AGAIN for all the English fans out there!
