England confirm a 25-player squad for this month’s friendlies against Germany and South Africa, as Sarina Wiegman recalls Arsenal and Chelsea stars to the fold.
England Women‘s head coach Sarina Wiegman has selected a 25-strong squad for this month’s October friendlies against Germany and South Africa.
After successfully punching their ticket to Euro 2025 over the summer – finishing second in League A Group 3 behind France in qualifying – the Lionesses will close out the year with a quartet of friendlies over the next couple of months.
October’s double-header sees Germany – England’s opponents in the Euro 2022 final – visit Wembley for a repeat of that battle on the 25th, four days before the reigning European champions take on South Africa at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Wiegman has been able to include a handful of stars who missed July’s fixtures through injury, including key Chelsea Women’s attacker Lauren James and Lotte Wubben-Moy of Arsenal Women, who on Tuesday morning announced the resignation of head coach Jonas Eidevall.
Aston Villa defender Lucy Parker – who is still waiting to make her senior England debut – is also included for the first time in a year, having spent most of last season recovering from a severe ankle injury.
Parker is one of two uncapped players in the squad – the other being Orlando Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse – and five players who were included in July’s squad have lost their places this time around.
Chelsea’s Niamh Charles – who recently underwent surgery on a dislocated shoulder – is among them, while Khiara Keating, Lucy Thomas, Millie Turner and Missy Bo Kearns also make way.
Wiegman calls on England to “lay the foundations” for Euro 2025
The road to #WEURO2025 starts here 💪
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) October 15, 2024
“This is an important international window for us and I can’t wait to get back together at St. George’s Park. The players and staff worked hard to automatically secure our place in next summer’s EURO, allowing all of our focus and attention to now go into making sure we’re ready for the tournament when it begins on 2 July,” Wiegman told englandfootball.com.
“Qualifying directly for the finals provides us with a very valuable opportunity to play four friendlies this autumn and lay the foundations for next summer. We’ve been able to carefully select our opponents and we’ve got two exciting and different challenges this window.
“To play Germany at Wembley Stadium is very special and it’s so important that we get experience of executing our style of play against top opponents. Then South Africa in Coventry, a city and a stadium we know well, will test us in different ways. They showed in the World Cup in 2023 how quickly they are progressing and the high level they are at now. We’ll need to be at our very best on both evenings.
“The fans are always so brilliant whenever we play and tickets are still available for both games, so we’d love as much support as possible and another two memorable atmospheres.”
Once October’s fixtures are done and dusted, England close out 2024 with two more friendlies against the United States and Switzerland, clashing with the former at Wembley on November 30.
The Lionesses then host Switzerland at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane on December 3, before the group-stage draw for Euro 2025 takes place on December 16.
Goalkeepers: Mary Earps (Paris Saint-Germain), Hannah Hampton (Chelsea), Anna Moorhouse (Orlando Pride)
Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Chelsea), Jess Carter (Gotham FC), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Maya Le Tissier (Manchester United), Esme Morgan (Washington Spirit), Lucy Parker (West Ham United), Leah Williamson (Arsenal), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Grace Clinton (Manchester United), Fran Kirby (Brighton & Hove Albion), Jess Park (Manchester City), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Keira Walsh (Barcelona)
Forwards: Aggie Beever-Jones (Chelsea), Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Lauren James (Chelsea), Chloe Kelly (Manchester City), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Jessica Naz (Tottenham Hotspur), Alessia Russo (Arsenal)