FIFA women World Cup: Three Lionesses are here!
Millie Bright and Bethany England have been included in the England Women squad for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, while Beth Mead has not made the 23-player list.
Chelsea defender Bright has not featured since March after picking up a knee injury, but was expected to be included for the tournament, which begins on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
Sarina Wiegman has also confirmed that Bright will be England captain this summer in the absence of the injured Leah Williamson.
Lucy Bronze too has been sidelined since picking up a knee injury against Chelsea in the Women’s Champions League semi-finals, but is also expected to be fit for the tournament.
Speaking after her squad was announced, Wiegman said: “Lucy is fit. She is fully in training and she’s getting ready for the [Champions League] final on Saturday.
“Millie is in a good place. She’s still positive and she’s building. But we have some time so she’ll be with us too. It looks good.
“In terms of captaincy, we had Leah with the vice-captain as Millie [Bright]. Mary [Earps] has done it too so that’s how we will approach it now.”
“Beth England deserve to be back in because of her performances,” Wiegman said of the forward. “She was at Chelsea and wasn’t getting the minutes.
“We always say that if you’re really competing for a position, she didn’t build up much credit for us as she was hardly playing.
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“She then made her move and started playing in a hard situation. Tottenham were having a hard time but she showed a lot of resilience which made us make the decision to put her in the squad.”
England Women squad in full
Goalkeepers: Mary Earps (Man Utd), Ellie Roebuck (Man City), Hannah Hampton (Aston Villa).
Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Barcelona), Jess Carter (Chelsea), Niamh Charles (Chelsea), Esme Morgan (Man City), Alex Greenwood (Man City), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal).
Midfielders: Keira Walsh (Barcelona), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Ella Toone (Man Utd), Jordan Nobbs (Aston Villa), Laura Coombs (Man City), Katie Zelem (Man Utd).
Forwards: Alessia Russo (Man Utd), Rachel Daly (Aston Villa), Lauren Hemp (Man City), Chloe Kelly (Man City), Lauren James (Chelsea), Katie Robinson (Brighton), Bethany England (Tottenham).
Standby players: Maya Le Tissier (Man Utd), Jess Park (Man City), Emily Ramsey (Man Utd).