Tag: England Lionesses

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ENGLAND VS UKRAINE PREVIEW

PHOTO: Lionesses (X)


The Lionesses face a crunch match this week at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, as they take on Ukraine in their final FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 qualifier this Tuesday.

In their last game, England were handed their heaviest-ever defeat under Sarina Wiegman when current world champions Spain beat them 4-0 in Mallorca. This result throws a curveball into the works in terms of automatic qualification.

In the qualifying groups, only first places go to the World Cup automatically, whereas second place goes through a playoff system against other best-placed teams to decide who goes through.

For England to be able to qualify automatically, they would need to win against Ukraine and have Iceland win or draw against Spain.

In the reverse fixture, the Lionesses ran riot and went on to win 6-1 with Russo, Stanway and Jess Park all scoring braces in the game back in March. England went into the break only leading 1-0, but a spirited Ukraine side pulled it back to 2-1 on the 57-minute mark before England ramped up the gears, eventually scoring another four to secure the win.

The Hill Dickinson Stadium is host tomorrow, in what is the first women’s international fixture hosted there since it opened. It has played host to Everton Women already this season in the WSL, but this will be the first time an England international side has played there since its opening in 2025.

Speaking about the trip to Merseyside, manager Sarina Wiegman said the following: “I’m really looking forward to it. Going around the country is really nice, but playing in this new stadium, in Liverpool, which is a big city, a football city,I feel excited.

“I’m grateful that we can play here. We play in many very exciting stadiums, and I think England has many exciting stadiums and areas to play in, and we’re going around a little bit, and I’m really enjoying that.” (Quotes via Liverpool Echo).

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Lionesses

Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium to host Lionesses world cup qualifier

PHOTO: ENGLANDFOOTBALL.COM

The Hill Dickinson Stadium is set to play host to the Lionesses as they bid to qualify for the 2027 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The ground itself is only a year old, having officially held its first test match in February in 2025. It’s located to the north of Liverpool City Centre and boasts an impressive capacity of exactly 52,769 seats. It will be the ground’s second international fixture this year, with Côte d’Ivoire set to face Scotland there in preparation for the men’s World Cup later this summer

The news was confirmed by the FA earlier this week that the Lionesses will take on Ukraine in a Women’s World Cup qualifier on the 8th of June 2026 with kick-off scheduled for 20:00, as England look to book their spot at the competition.

With this fixture being confirmed, it is the first England international game to be played at the new home of Everton since it opened. It has previously hosted one Barclays Women’s Super League fixture so far, between Everton and Manchester United back in October 2025.

The last time the Lionesses played up in the North-West was on their homecoming tour in October 2025 at the Etihad Stadium in their first match after Euro 2025. In which, they were narrowly defeated 2-1 vs reigning Copa America champions Brazil.

With England facing the world champions, Spain, just four days earlier in the away tie with details of the game still yet to be confirmed, it will be a crunch match to decide qualification, and tickets go on sale to England members from Friday the 27th of February until March 4th before any remaining tickets go on general sale on March 5th onwards.

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Lionesses

Squad Announced as England begin FIFA World Cup Campaign

Photo by Aimee Reynolds

England are back in action next month as they begin their bid to secure a spot in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027.

In 2023, the team placed second in the competition in Australia & New Zealand, losing 1-0 to Spain in the final in Sydney and the team are out for vengeance this year.

Earlier today, a new 25-player squad was announced in lieu of the qualifying matches against both Ukraine and Iceland, with the squad as follows:

Goal Keepers:

Hannah Hampton, Anna Moorhouse, Ellie Roebuck

Defenders:

Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Grace Fisk, Alex Greenwood, Taylor Hinds, Maya Le Tissier, Esme Morgan, Poppy Pattinson, Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy

Midfielders:

Laura Blindkilde Brown, Grace Clinton, Lucia Kendall, Georgia Stanway, Keira Walsh

Forwards:

Aggie Beever-Jones, Freya Godfrey, Lauren Hemp, Lauren James, Chloe Kelly, Jess Park, Alessia Russo

One big noticeable change sees Ellie Roebuck called up in place of Khiara Keating, the goal keeper being called up in the primary squad for the first time since October 2023, having missed out on play opportunities both due to a stroke and a lack of playing time prior to illness.

In terms of defence, Poppy Pattinson earned herself her maiden call up to the senior team, with Jess Carter, Alex Greenwood and captain Leah Williamson all returning to the side after missing out on the November/December fixtures due to injury and recovery protocol. Niamh Charles misses out through injury once more.

With just five players named in the Lionesses midfield, we see Ella Toone and Missy Bo Kearns miss out through injury. This, combined with the recent retirement of Fran Kirby leaves England with a unique midfield mix and veterans Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh likely to play alongside more inexperienced players in Laura Blindkilde Brown, Grace Clinton and Lucia Kendall – the 21-year-old earning her debut just five months ago.

England’s attack looks much the same to previous squads, with Lauren James returning to the squad for the first time since England’s triumphant summer and Beth Mead missing out through injury. Meanwhile, Freya Godfrey maintains her spot in the squad after an impressive performance against Manchester City as Sarina Wiegman looked on.

England face Ukraine in Antalya, Turkeyon Tuesday 3rd March at 17:00 GMT with the sides facing each other for the first time since 2014.

Four days later, the Lionesses return to home soil as they face Iceland for the first time since 2009 on Saturday 7th March at 12:30 GMT with the match taking place at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground.