England Women’s head coach Sarina Wiegman has named a 23-player squad for the November World Cup qualifiers against Austria and Latvia.
The Lionesses have two home games this month as they continue to target qualification for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The squad will first host Austria at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on Saturday 27 November [kick-off: 12.30pm] before welcoming Latvia to Doncaster Rovers’ Keepmoat Stadium on Tuesday 30 November [kick off: 7.00pm] as they reach the halfway mark in their FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 qualifying campaign.
Having won all four qualifiers comfortably in the campaign so far, England will face a tougher test against Austria. The visitors are the second highest ranked team in Group D, having also qualified for next summer’s home UEFA EURO.
Wiegman’s third squad since joining England from the Netherlands sees the welcome return of Arsenal’s Jordan Nobbs, who has been out of action for club and country this season with an ankle ligament injury.
Meanwhile, Arsenal defender Leah Williamson, who was given the captaincy by Wiegman for the last four qualifiers, has been ruled out of November’s fixtures due to injury. England remain without senior Internationals Ellie Roebuck, Lucy Bronze and Steph Houghton as they continue their return to fitness.
The majority of the squad have been ever-present during Wiegman’s reign so far and will have a further chance to impress the head coach before next year’s four nations tournament on home soil in February.
Forward Ellen White currently has 99 senior England caps so she could receive her 100th during the November camp, and having scored five goals in the last four qualifying games, is now just two shy of Kelly Smith’s goalscoring record of 46.
Head coach Sarina Wiegman said: “We’ve had an extremely enjoyable and successful start to our World Cup qualifying campaign so far. Having experienced the incredible atmosphere of Wembley Stadium last month, we’re delighted to be visiting two venues in the north of England for our games against Austria and Latvia.
“Our first fixture this camp against Austria at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland should be an extremely exciting and competitive game and will be a good test of how well we are developing as a squad as we build towards next summer’s home EURO.
“We hope to see great crowds at both games as I’m very aware of the huge supporter base and participation at the grassroots of the game that exists in both regions.
“We would love to end this calendar year in style with two great World Cup qualifying matches as we prepare for what will be an incredible 2022 for women’s football in England.”
The squad will report to their St. George’s Park training base on Sunday following this weekend’s Barclays FAWSL fixtures.
Fans can purchase tickets for England v Austria [Saturday 27 November, kick-off: 12.30pm] and England v Latvia [Tuesday 30 November, kick off: 7.00pm] by visiting TheFA.com/tickets. Tickets for both games are priced at £15 for adults and £2.50 for
children. Concessions and group discounts are also available.
England squad
Goalkeepers: Mary Earps (Manchester United), Hannah Hampton (Aston Villa), Sandy MacIver (Everton)
Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea), Jessica Carter (Chelsea), Niamh Charles (Chelsea), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Demi Stokes (Manchester City), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Jill Scott (Manchester City), Georgia Stanway (Manchester City), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), Keira Walsh (Manchester City), Katie Zelem (Manchester United)
Forwards: Bethany England (Chelsea), Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Nikita Parris (Arsenal), Alessia Russo (Manchester United), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Ellen White (Manchester City)
