Sarina Wiegman has named her 23-player England squad for the Women’s World Cup with several big names omitted. Following their Euro 2022 triumph on home soil, the Lionesses will head to Australia and New Zealand this summer as one of the favourites to win one of the biggest prizes in football. However, if England are to beat the likes of the USA, Spain and Germany, they’ll have to do it without the help of some of the biggest names from their heroic campaign last year due to injury issues. This includes forward Beth Mead who has not played for around seven months after suffering an ACL injury back in November. Despite her recovery being ahead of schedule, Mead has not even been named on the three-player standby list, with Fran Kirby and captain Leah Williamson also missing out due to injury. Veteran stars Jill Scott and Ellen White retired soon after the Euros final win over Germany at Wembley.
In better news, defenders Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze are included despite suffering injury scares late into the season, with the former set to skipper the side in the absence of Williamson. The only notable omission would be Manchester United defender Maya Le Tissier who, alongside Jess Park and Emily Ramsey, has been put on the standby list and will train with the squad up until the start of the tournament. England have never won the Women’s World Cup, with their best result coming in 2015 when they finished third. The Lionesses have been drawn in Group D and will kick-off their tournament against Haiti on the 22nd July, followed by games against Denmark and China.