Sarina Wiegman 'very proud' of Lionesses as England prepare to face Portugal at sold out stadium but admits there are 'a lot more steps forward' to be taken for women's football

The Lionesses will take on Portugal in the Nations League on Friday evening at a sold out Estadio Municipal de Portimao, as they aim to tune up ahead of their European Championship defence this summer. Wiegman believes that stadiums being filled around Europe is a huge step in the right direction but does not want the game to stop pushing for more.

Wiegman has overseen a remarkable few years for England, who won Euro 2022 and are now supported in huge numbers wherever they play. She is pleased to see other nations are following a similar path ahead of this summer's tournament.

Wiegman said at a press conference: "We talk about development a lot of course and we have taken a lot of steps forward but we also need to take a lot more steps forward. I think that countries are all in different stages of their development. Portugal are in another stage of their development. A good thing is that we sold out the stadium quite quickly, which is going to be full tomorrow, and hopefully that helps this country when we play a good game and they can move forward, which is exciting as a whole for women's football."

England have six Nations League fixtures against Portugal, Spain and Belgium to come this spring before the European Championship kicks off in July. They play Spain at Wembley on Wednesday after their Portugal clash.