England v United States: international football friendly – live
Key events
28 min: Thompson dribbles hard down the left, zipping past Naz before being clipped by Walsh. That’s a clever foul, because front on, it’s not enough for a booking, and Sears was in acres on the other flank, waiting for the pass that would have set her free.
26 min: England continue to pass it out from the back, living on the edge, just about beating the press. These must be testing times for those who follow both England women and Southampton men.
24 min: Lavelle, tracking back as England break forward, runs slap-bang into the referee and is furious. Fortunately – for the official, anyway – nothing comes of the counter. This is all a bit scrappy at the moment.
22 min: Bronze advances down the right and is upended by Krueger. Free kick, just outside the box. Everyone gets in it. Greenwood whips the set piece towards Bronze at the back stick, but there’s too much juice on the delivery and the ball sails out of play for a goal kick. Neither attack quite clicking yet.
20 min: England play out from the back. It’s a risky venture, but they evade the US press and Russo scampers into acres of space down the left. She cuts back for Park who doesn’t shoot this time, but isn’t able to get a cross into the box.
18 min: Sears again makes good ground down the right and crosses long. Horan tries to bring the ball down but can’t sort her feet out, allowing Naz to clear. England can’t keep giving Sears so much room out on the right, though.
17 min: Stanway sprays a diagonal pass towards Mead on the left flank. That’s a fine ball to release Mead on the attack. Mead makes it as far as the box before cutting back for Park, who sends a wild shot high and wide right. Mead, still in space and desirous of the return pass, tells it as she sees it. Not happy.
15 min: … so having said that, England do get out, Russo spinning the combative Coffey and drawing a cynical tug on the shirt that earns the US midfielder the first yellow card of the evening. Coffey, bang to rights, doesn’t bother complaining.
14 min: Coffey snaps into a tackle in the centre circle to launch another USA attack. Nothing comes of this phase, but England can’t get out.
13 min: Coffey and Horan exchange passes down the left, forcing Bronze into the concession of a corner. Bronze heads the corner clear, but then Fox picks up possession and tears down the right touchline. Fox’s cross is deflected away from danger … this time. USA enjoying plenty of joy down this right flank already.
12 min: Sears probes down the right again, but this time there’s no way around Greenwood and she walks the ball out for a goal kick.
10 min: Horan is fine to continue. On the touchline, her boss Emma Hayes casually takes a swig from a bottle of fruit squash. Much nicer than that aforementioned flat lager, and isotonic to boot.
8 min: Stanway stands on Horan’s foot. All accidental, but the US captain requires some treatment. The game stops.
7 min: Walsh takes a loose touch 30 yards from her own goal and is extremely fortunate that Horan makes a mess of stealing the ball. Stanway has already been caught snoozing, too. England aren’t being given a moment to rest.
6 min: USA suddenly take it up a notch, Sears bursting into space down the right and crossing low for Thompson, who has time to take a couple of touches before launching a rising shot towards the top right. Earps turns around the post and receives the ovation she deserves for a superb save. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
4 min: USA stroke it around the back patiently. Everyone sizing things up at the moment. The big crowd bubbling along nicely nonetheless.
2 min: Otherwise, it’s a uneventful start as both teams take turns to get a feel of the ball.
12 secs: Naz makes good down the right but her cross is too high for Russo in the middle. Naeher claims. What a start that could have been!
After everyone takes a knee of equality, England get the ball rolling. The USA won the anthems, incidentally. By some distance.
After a laser show that would put Jean-Michel Jarre to shame – an up-to-the-minute reference for all you pop kids out there – the teams emerge from the tunnel. England in white, the USA in second-choice blue and red. An 83,000-strong crackle of anticipation around Wembley. The Americans entertain themselves with an elaborate series of high-fives. Anthems and action to follow.
Sarina Wiegman speaks to ITV. “This is the collaboration I want to see tonight … some little tweaks … I want to see both goalkeepers, I do not want to decide now … last time at Wembley, Hannah Hampton was in goal and now Mary Earps gets her opportunity … Emma Hayes does a tremendous job over there … you absolutely want to beat each other … she will make tweaks so we have to be sharp.”
Hayes smiled broadly through every nanosecond of that interview. She’s clearly enjoying her new role immensely, which should be no surprise given her current 92 percent win ratio. In fact, the only time she wasn’t caught wearing a sunny grin was when ITV showed footage of her pulling a pint in a Camden pub earlier this week for PR purposes, then grimacing as she had a sip of it. To be fair, she’s not a fan of beer, and in any case the ale looked a bit flat.
Emma Hayes, relaxed and jovial, speaks to ITV. “It’s great to be back here … I feel a bit bad always talking about how happy I am! … I needed to slow down … playing different opponents in different stadiums, it feels new and exciting … you feel a little bit like a grandparent! … they come into camp and are all happy to see you … you give them the best time ever … hopefully win a couple of medals … it’s a completely different way of coaching … life is so short and I want to have a good time … I want to be the best coach I can be … I’ve been put on this earth to do the best I can for the women’s game.”
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 Triple Espresso front line of Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson – their nickname coined by Rodman live on NBC days before they won Olympic gold – are all out injured.
The teams
England: Earps, Bronze, Carter, Williamson, Greenwood, Walsh, Naz, Park, Stanway, Mead, Russo.
Subs: Moorhouse, Hampton, Bright, Turner, George, Morgan, Kirby, Mace, Blindkilde, Clinton, Kelly, Beever-Jones.
USA: Naeher, Fox, Krueger, Sonnett, Girma, Coffey, Thompson, Lavelle, Horan, Williams, Sears.
Subs: Haught, Davidson, Gaetino, Malonson, Sams, Albert, Yohannes, Nighswonger, Ryan, Hershfelt, Shaw, Sentnor.
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!
