England v Australia: womenâ€s international football friendly – live | Friendlies

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32 min: The camera cuts to Wiegman who is rapidly writing away in her notepad. A penny for her thoughts notes. I am sure she would like another goal before the half-time whistle.

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30 min: Kendall finds Toone but her shot is well high as the ball bounced a bit just before she let it fly.

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28 min: Close! Kerr just sneaks behind Walsh and shoots at the near post but Hampton just manages to stick her foot out to make the save. Australia take the resulting corner short but are then called off-side. Shame for them that their most threatening player from set-pieces is the one that was sent off.

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27 min: Carpenter races on the right as Australia try to capatalise in a rare moment with the wall but Hinds matches her and wins the challenge.

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21 min: England are full of confidence now, Hinds and Russo both having their go at goal. Australia are in a low,compact 4-4-1 without the ball. The hosts had most of the possession before the red card; they are going to see even more of it now.

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GOAL! England 1-0 Australia (Beever-Jones 20)

Beever-Jones has been the most liveliest player and she finally gets her rewards. She takes the free-kick and itâ€s a low shot that is blocked by Australiaâ€s wall. Bronze lays it off again to the forward and she rifles it with her second chance into the net. As England celebrate, Australiaâ€s players form a huddle to regroup.

Beever-Jones strikes to give England the lead! Photograph: Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 15.26 EDT

RED CARD: England 0-0 Australia (Kennedy 19)

Australia are down to 10 just as Brazil were on Saturday. Russo takes the ball and is away after Kennedy tries to evade a press but the ball goes straight into the path of the Arsenal forward. The defender tries to rectify her mistake but all she does is pull the forward back. It is a straight red for denying a goalscoring opportunity and no complaints from the visitors. England now have a free-kick right outside the box.

Alanna Kennedy gets her marching orders! Photograph: Carl Recine/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 15.25 EDT

16 min: Good play from the left between Hinds, Toone and Beever-Jones but the latter canâ€t keep the ball in play.

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13 min: Beever-Jones finds the back of the net … but the flag is up. We do have VAR but the replay shows she just mistimed her run off of Carpenter and no complaints from her. It was a well-worked chance after a ball from Mead. Sigh of relief for the visitors.

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Updated at 15.15 EDT

10 min: England enjoying a long spell of possession. Earlier Morgan was walking with the ball, waiting – asking – to be pressed, but the Australia front line stayed flat. Clear plans from the visitors to counterattack when the chance comes. Sweet Caroline is already being played out by the band in the crowd.

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Updated at 15.12 EDT

7 min: Another chance for England. Mead wins the ball back on the right, finds Russo who does well to dig out the cross for Beever-Jones but her header goes wide.

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5 min: Hampton just gets her pass away as a scampering Kerr runs at her. England go forward as Russo lays it off to Bronze. The ball then lands to Kendall who lets a shot fly over the bar.

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3 min: Australia play out from the back but the ball is won high up and Tooneâ€s shot from just inside the box is blocked. The ball comes back out and after some patient buildup, Mead crosses the ball for Beever-Jones. The Chelsea forward comes just off the shoulder of Carpenter and sticks her toe out but just canâ€t get a strong shot away.

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Kick-off: England 0-0 Australia

The teams are out, the anthems have been sung and the referee has blown the whistle. England are in their traditional white tops and blue shorts while Australia don their all-black kits. Here we go!

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The England squad are in the tunnel saying hello to Grace Clinton and Lauren Hemp, who are out injured but are here to show the Pride Park crowd in Derby the Euro 2025 trophy that was won in the summer.

Mary Fowler is also in attendance despite her injury, here to support the visitors. Kick-off less than 10 minutes away.

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Letâ€s crunch some numbers and take a look at the match stats:

• Englandâ€s last clean sheet was during the Euro 2025 group stages – their second match of the tournament. Since then they have conceded Wales, Sweden, Italy, Spain and Brazil.

• England have lost four of their 14 matches in all competitions in 2025 (W7 D3), last suffering more defeats in a single calendar year in 2019 under Phil Neville (7).

• After losing to Brazil, England will be aiming to avoid losing back-to-back matches for the first time under Sarina Wiegman – the Lionesses last lost two in a row in their final two matches prior to the Dutchwomanâ€s appointment, in April 2021 (v France and Canada).

• England have scored in each of their last 15 games in all competitions, since a 0-0 draw with USA in November 2024 – the Lionesses could score in 16 consecutive matches for the first time ever.

• Sam Kerr has been directly involved in each of Australiaâ€s last three goals against England (2 goals, 1 assist) – the Chelsea striker is the Matildaâ€s all-time leading scorer (69).

• Kyra Cooney-Cross created the most chances of any player against Wales; three of the four she created were for shots taken by Caitlin Foord, including the winning goal.

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Reminder of how it went down the last time these sides met … the stakes were a bit higher two years ago.

Sam Kerr wheels away after scoring Australiaâ€s equaliser against England in the semi-final of the 2023 World Cup after Ella Tooneâ€s opener. Photograph: Rick Rycroft/APLauren Hemp responded with the winner before Alessia Russo capped Englandâ€s 3-1 win, booking their spot in the final – which they went on to lose. Photograph: Abbie Parr/APShare

Team news

England XI (4-3-3): Hampton; Bronze, Le Tissier, Morgan, Hinds; Walsh, Kendall, Toone; Beever-Jones, Mead, Russo

Subs:Keating, Moorhouse, Charles, Stanway, Greenwood, Carter, Kelly, Kearns, Agyemang, Blindkilde Brown, Fisk, Naz

Wiegman hands two debuts to Kendall and Hinds. Hampton makes her return from injury, while it seems Le Tissier has earned her start at centre-back tonight after much fan drama.

Australia XI (4-2-3-1): Arnold; Carpenter, Hunt, Heatley, Catley; Gorry, Kennedy; Cooney-Cross, Sayer, Foord; Kerr

Subs:Micah, Aquino, Nevin, Vine, Wheeler, Torpey, Raso, Grant, McNamara, Siemsen, Rankin, Heyman

Only two changes from the Matildas win against Wales, with Torpey and Wheeler making way for Kennedy and Sayer. Kerr handed another chance to get more minutes in her legs. Her last goal for Australia was on 1 November, 2023 – almost two years to the day.

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Updated at 14.21 EDT

As for Australia, their late winner against Wales was surely a welcome one but the Matildaâ€s dominance drifted during the game. Joe Montemurroâ€s side started strong but the misplaced passes and errors crept in allowing the hosts some good spells of possession.

Much of the buildup to the match was around Sam Kerrâ€s return. The captain and star striker was making her first international appearance since 2023 and while it was a subdued performance, her return ignites a lot of buzz … and a lot of questions.

Once the excitement of her return settles, there are pertinent questions as to how she will fit into this team. She is a freak athlete, but also one who is 32 and coming off a near two-year-long recovery. She was injured while Tony Gustavsson was national-team coach – the Swede having landed on a 4-4-2 that got close to the best out of her and Foord – but Montemurro will have his own ideas on how to fit her into what he wants to do. Part of this will be figuring out her place in an attack also featuring Foord (arguably the Matildas†most important player now), Raso, McNamara, Amy Sayer, Mary Fowler, Michelle Heyman and any other forward that emerges.

Joey Lynchâ€s full analysis is below.

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So what happened against Brazil? The Canarinhas came out at the Etihad Stadium quickly and they were 2-0 up within 18 minutes as the Lionessesâ€s makeshift defence struggled with the pace of Ludmilla, Zaneratto and Dudinha. Angelina was sent off in the 21st minute and naturally, the visitorâ€s gameplan changed, approaching the rest of the match more timidly.

Despite the player advantage, England struggled. They registered three shots on target and four big chances, both stats the same as their opponents despite having 70% possession.

Both Suzanne Wrack and Sophie Downey were in Manchester to see Englandâ€s loss first-hand and both voiced that there is little cause for concern … yet.

But continuing weaknesses have to be a focus for Wiegman and her new cohort of assistants to try to rectify before qualification begins for the 2027 World Cup next spring. This game may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, a red flag against complacency and a reminder that lifting silverware on the international stage does not automatically fix endemic problems. If England can figure out that side of their game, there is no doubt that with the quality of personnel available, this team could push the levels of their success even higher than they have previously done.

Read Sophieâ€s full analysis below.

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Preamble

Sound the alarms, England are in crisis mode … is what we would say if we were to take the Lionesses 2-1 loss to 10-player Brazil on Saturday at face value (and even then, saying the above would be quite the stretch).

But, as Sarina Wiegman has repeatedly stressed, England are in experimental mode as early ground work begins for the 2027 World Cup. The manager knows the squad she relied on to win back-to-back European Championship titles will be different in 18 months†time and is using these friendlies as a chance to see what works and what does not.

With all that being said, Wiegman and the players have also said that the habit of winning is important to maintain. It did not work against Brazil but a new test awaits today at Pride Park in Derby.

Australia have had a rocky few months and this England match is part of their preparation for their home Asian Cup in March. Joe Montemurro was hired four months ago after a string of disappointing results, including at the Paris Olympics. Sam Kerr returned after a 725-day absence and the Matildas will surely be a big vengeful. The last time the sides faced each other was at the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup, a 3-1 England win.

Much to look forward to and discuss. Kick-off is at 7pm GMT / 6am AEDT. As always, feel free to send your thoughts, questions, predictions and judgments on Wiegmanâ€s tactics my way via email.

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