Key events
England make four changes to their starting XI in the wake of the unconvincing 2-1 win over South Africa last month. Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Keira Walsh and Alessia Russo take the places of Esme Morgan, Grace Clinton and Chloe Kelly, who drop to the bench, and Maya Le Tissier, who is missing after suffering concussion while playing for Manchester United last weekend.
Seven of today’s USWNT starters played when these teams last met at Wembley in 2022. Alyssa Naeher, Naomi Girma, Emily Fox, Sam Coffey, Rose Lavelle, Alyssa Thompson and captain Lindsey Horan were all on the wrong end of England’s 2-1 win that day. Naeher, Horan and Lavelle are the only players who remain from the USA’s 2-1 victory in the 2019 World Cup semis.
The teams
England: Earps, Bronze, Carter, Walsh, Williamson, Greenwood, Naz, Stanway, Russo, Park, Mead.
Subs: Morgan, Hampton, Kirby, Bright, Turner, Kelly, Clinton, Beever-Jones, George, Moorhouse, Mace, Blindkilde-Brown.
USA: Naeher, Girma, Williams, Thompson, Horan, Sears, Sonnett, Lavelle, Coffey, Krueger, Fox.
Subs: Sams, Albert, Nighswonger, Shaw, Sentnor, Yohannes, Davidson, Malonson, Hershfelt, Haught, Gaetino, Ryan.
Preamble
It’s a clash of the titans, as the Lionesses taken on the USWNT at Wembley. England versus the USA. The world number two side versus the world number one. The European champions versus Olympic gold medallists. Sarina Wiegman v Emma Hayes. All perfectly poised, then … except that the USA have won their last nine and are unbeaten in 18, winning the Concacaf Gold Cup, the SheBelieves Cup and the Olympics along the way, while England’s last three matches have been a nervy 0-0 draw in Sweden, a shambolic 3-4 home loss to Germany, and an extremely flattering 2-1 win over South Africa. That draw in Sweden, it must be said, secured Euro 2025 qualification for England, but fair to say one team is currently a lot closer to their best level than the other. A big test for the Lionesses, in other words, against the very best. Kick-off is at 5.20pm GMT. It’s on!