Having continued their serene progress to the 2023 Women’s World Cup with another one-sided thrashing, Tuesday’s 10-0 drubbing of Latvia, the attention of Sarina Wiegman and her England players turns to next summer’s home-hosted European Championships.
The draw for the finals takes place in Manchester. Northern Ireland, whose own World Cup hopes were dented when Austria gained a last-minute equaliser at Windsor Park on Tuesday, are also keenly interested. Kenny Shiels’ team will be making their bow at a major tournament.
The 16 qualifiers have been seeded into four pots. England are in Pot 1, along with the Netherlands, who Wiegman led to victory in 2017, France and eight-times winners Germany. Northern Ireland are in Pot 4. Four groups of four will be drawn, leading to a last-eight knock-out.
While England will feel confident of escaping their group whatever its combination, there are teams they would prefer to avoid. Pot 2 includes World Cup bronze medallists Sweden who have won their last two matches against England, and a fast-improving Spanish side based on Barcelona, the Champions League winners who have this year comfortably beaten each of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, the cream of the WSL.
Pot 3 contains Denmark, runners-up at Euro 2017, and a decent Belgian side who drew 3-3 with England in 2019. The most dangerous opposition in Pot 4 are Russia.
Northern Ireland know they will be underdogs whoever they draw but, said Lauren Wade, a goalscorer on Tuesday, “We are looking forward to see who we are going to get. We are really excited. Every team will be tough but [the match v Austria] gives us confidence that we are going to be able to compete.”
The pots
- Pot 1: England, France, Germany, Netherlands.
- Pot 2: Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden.
- Pot 3: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland.
- Pot 4: Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Russia.
Four groups of four will be drawn, beginning with Pot 1
England open the tournament at Old Trafford on 6 July, and hope to be present when it concludes at Wembley on 31 July. The Lionesses also play group matches at Brighton and Southampton. The other venues are Brentford, Milton Keynes, Sheffield United, Rotherham, Manchester City’s Academy stadium (where City’s women play) and Leigh Sports Village (the home of Manchester United Women).
It says much for the sport’s growth that the previous time the Euros were held in England, in 2005, all the matches were held within the traditional boundaries of Lancashire with the final at Ewood Park.
England then failed to escape the group, but have twice reached the final. In 1984 they lost the inaugural competition on penalties to Sweden after a 1-1 draw over two legs. In 2009 they lost 6-2 to Germany.
Alex Scott, who played in the latter match, and Gabby Logan will co-host the draw with Kelly Smith, another veteran of the 2009 campaign, among the cast of past and present star players assisting.
How to watch the draw
- Date: Thursday 28 October
- Start time: 5pm
- Where: Manchester
- TV channel: BBC One. Coverage from 4.30pm
- Live stream: BBC iPlayer
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3Clcn0D
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