The United States women’s national team announced a tentative date to face England on October 7. The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup champions are scheduled to face UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 winners. The match is subject to England securing its FIFA 2023 women’s World Cup qualification during the September international window.
England are coming off a historic run in the Euros that saw the Lionesses defeat Germany 2-1 and lift the trophy on home soil, all while capturing the hearts of a nation desperate for an international title. The USWNT are recent Concacaf W Championship winners — their ninth Concacaf title — and qualified for the 2023 World Cup, 2024 Olympics, and 2024 W Gold Cup.
The two teams will meet for the first time at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Wembley was the site of the 2022 Euro cup final, and set a landmark attendance record of 87,192 spectators. It will be the first meeting between the two teams since the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, where the U.S. defeated England 2-0 with goals from Christen Press and the recently retired Carli Lloyd.
“To get a chance to play the European champions in London at Wembley is an opportunity that doesn’t come around very often, so we’re all thankful that the match could be arranged, and we’ll be hoping that England finish their qualifying campaign in September,” said USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “This is exactly the kind of match we need at exactly the right time in our World Cup preparations so we can test ourselves against a very talented England team. I saw England play live at the Euros, and I’m looking forward to an amazing atmosphere at Wembley and another big event for women’s soccer on Oct. 7.”
England will need to earn a point over Austria in September — the only other team that can win Group D — in order to directly qualify for the 2023 World Cup with two games remaining for the two teams. Should England fail to clinch a World Cup spot in September, a two-legged play-off would take place in October. The FA and USSF have agreed to work toward a new date in the future between the two teams should a schedule conflict arise.
U.S. Soccer also announced that the USWNT will play an additional match in Europe, though the opponent and stadium will be determined at a later date. The European matches will be for the first for Andonovksi’s side since April 2021, where the USWNT played a two matches against Sweden and France.