Key occasions
The groups!
Team information is in, and Keira Walsh makes her a hundredth England look within the workforce’s 499th sport, with either side trying most definitely to line up in a 4-3-3:
England: Hampton; Bronze, Wubben-Moy, Morgan, Greenwood; Kendall, Walsh, Stanway; Hemp, Russo, James.
Spain: Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Mapi Leon, Carmona; Caldentey, Guijarro, Putellas; Lopez, Gonzalez, Pina.
Referee: Tess Olofsson (Sweden).
Preamble
Hello! Gird thy loins, world – it’s a massively massively monumental World Cup qualifier!
Involved are the perimeters ranked first (that’ll be Spain) and fourth on the earth by Fifa (no different group in League A has multiple prime 10 facet, notably), and the 2 finalists of final yr’s Euros. Unlike England, downed 2-1 by Brazil in a pleasant of their first sport after profitable that title, Spain haven’t misplaced since, however the two groups’ combination scores in six post-Euros matches – England 22-3 Opponents; Spain 14-2 Opponents (and with a a lot increased normal of opposition) reveal the standard of those sides.
The two groups are competing for one direct qualifying spot for subsequent yr’s finals in Brazil, with the opposite three sides – Iceland and Ukraine spherical out the group, each of them at the moment pointless after two matches – booted into varied components of an advanced play-off system. They’ll each wish to keep away from that if in any respect potential, and ergo would ideally win tonight. The query is whether or not one or certainly each of them will focus not on profitable however on not dropping.
Pre-match studying! Here’s Tom Garry’s preview:
Eight-and-a-half months after they locked horns within the last of Euro 2025, England and Spain meet once more on Tuesday night time in entrance of greater than 70,000 at Wembley. This time it’s in qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup, one other match through which they met within the last final outing.
Despite the comparatively temporary interval for the reason that sport in Basel, Spain have a noticeably contemporary look with a brand new head coach and a crop of rising younger gamers. They have already gained a trophy beneath Sonia Bermúdez, who led them to the Nations League title after changing Montse Tomé, and, in contrast to England, are unbeaten for the reason that Euros with 5 wins and a attract six matches.
“They have some other players, but their DNA stays the same,” mentioned the England head coach, Sarina Wiegman. “I don’t think that’s going to change.”
Much extra right here:
