Ameé Ruszkai

A complete guide to England women's year, including how to watch games live and more

It's been impossible to escape the storm surrounding the release of Mary Earps' new book this past week, with the former England No.1 making headlines aplenty for her comments on Sarina Wiegman and Hannah Hampton in particular - and not in a good way. Earps has since said she "never intentionally" meant to "hurt" anyone, but it's hard to imagine that Hampton has not been negatively impacted by everything that has unfolded over the course of the last seven days.

There was a lot to like about Arsenal's win over Leicester City on Sunday. Despite concluding last season by stunning Barcelona to win the Champions League, the Gunners have been nowhere near their best at the start of this new campaign, suffering four successive defeats in all competition for the first time since January 2022. Unconvincing but vital wins against Brighton and Benfica allowed them to fight back before the international break and their return to action at the weekend, in a 4-1 victory over the Foxes, was much-improved.

England were handed a nightmare draw in qualifying for the 2027 Women's World Cup, with the Lionesses to battle Spain for the only automatic berth in the group. Sarina Wiegman's side were able to defeat La Roja in the Euro 2025 final back in July but finished as runners-up to the world champions in the Nations League earlier this year, having failed to deliver the same level of consistency across the group stage as the side boasting two Ballon d'Or winners, in Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati.

Barcelona's incredibly dominant women's team suffered their earliest Liga F defeat in 11 years on Sunday as they were shockingly beaten 1-0 at Real Sociedad. The hosts have made a flying start to the new campaign, sitting third in the table after this win, but this was a hugely surprising result - representing just a fifth league loss for the Catalans since the beginning of the 2019-20 season.

Beth Mead and Alessia Russo took centre stage on Sunday as Arsenal looked much more like themselves in a comfortable and convincing 4-1 win at Leicester. Despite being crowned European champions back in May, the Gunners have struggled at the start of this new season, unable to use that continental triumph as a springboard for a Women's Super League title challenge. This win, though, was a sign that the tide is turning, with it certainly the most impressive of the three on the bounce they have now registered.

After winning an unprecedented Champions League title back in May, expectations were high for this Arsenal side coming into the 2025-26 season. Could the Gunners use their European success as a springboard and really challenge for the Women's Super League title this time around? Could they finally end Chelsea's incredible dominance which has now seen them claim each of the last six league crowns, as well as 13 of the last 18 domestic honours?

Lionesses starlet Michelle Agyemang has suffered a torn ACL, it has been announced. It's a diagnosis which confirms the worst fears of the teenager after she was stretchered off with a knee injury during England's 3-0 win over Australia on Tuesday night and one that spells the end of her 2025-26 season, which she had started well on loan at Brighton again from Arsenal.

There was no shortage of stars on show as the Lionesses took to the pitch for Tuesday's clash with an Australia side boasting plenty of household names of their own. Be it the likes of Lucy Bronze, Ella Toone, Beth Mead and Alessia Russo in the home colours, or Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Ellie Carpenter and Steph Catley representing the visitors, there was top-class talent all over the park. And yet, it was a relatively unknown 21-year-old by the name of Lucia Kendall who stole the show.

England's first camp since their second successive European Championship triumph was certainly a little up and down. Marred by injuries going into the window, with there already three notable absentees before Sarina Wiegman's squad was announced and four withdrawals after it was revealed, the Lionesses then suffered a 2-1 defeat to Brazil in their first game post-Euros, despite playing for over an hour against 10 players, but were able to bounce back on Tuesday against Australia, who also had a player sent off very early on in a rather strange couple of games.

Former England goalkeeper Mary Earps has been unable to accept a Lionesses send-off at Wembley next month after calling time on her international career in the weeks leading up to Euro 2025 in the summer. The Paris Saint-Germain stopper, who has become a superstar of the women's game in recent years and even transcends her sport, remains in talks about what a tribute might look like.

England delivered the homecoming performance the fans wanted on Tuesday night, bouncing back from Saturday's disappointing defeat to Brazil in a much more convincing 3-0 win over Australia as their parading of the European Championship trophy continued around the country. This was the second installment of the Lionesses' 'homecoming series' which will see this summer's silverware hit four different locations before the end of the year, and it produced a performance much more fitting of their status of European champions as goals from Aggie Beever-Jones, Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway downed a Matildas team that was reduced to 10 players inside the first 20 minutes.

Alessia Russo is one of 11 Lionesses on the list of nominees for this year's FIFPRO XI, which also includes seven players from the Spain side England beat in the European Championship final - albeit not Mariona Caldentey, who put La Roja ahead in that game and finished as runner-up to Aitana Bonmati at the Ballon d'Or. That's not the only surprise, either, with Mary Earps included and there no representation for the United States women's national team.

England boss Sarina Wiegman has added yet another fresh face to her Lionesses squad ahead of Tuesday's clash with Australia after West Ham defender Anouk Denton accepted her first senior call-up. That's despite no player withdrawing from selection before the European champions' second fixture of this international break, with it instead a measure to protect Lucy Bronze and Niamh Charles in particular.

It's fair to say England's homecoming didn't go to plan on Saturday. Returning to action for the first time since winning the European Championship this past summer, the Lionesses were 2-0 down just 18 minutes into their meeting with Brazil, and despite the visitors going down to 10 players not long after scoring that second, England could not make their numerical advantage count in a disappointing 2-1 defeat. What will have made the loss even more frustrating for some, though, was that it came amid a lack of experimentation from Sarina Wiegman.

Saturday evening was meant to be all about England. In action for the first time since their second successive European Championship triumph back in July, and with the silverware brought out ahead of kick-off, to much applause and cheer, the 'homecoming series' was underway, to celebrate another huge achievement for the Lionesses. However, Brazil clearly hadn't read the script and they assumed the role of party poopers, beating Sarina Wiegman's side 2-1 after an electric, and dramatic, start.

Hannah Hampton has been ruled out of England's clash with Brazil on Saturday, meaning Sarina Wiegman will hand out a debut to another goalkeeper in the Lionesses squad this weekend. Khiara Keating and Anna Moorhouse are both in contention for that opportunity, as is Sophie Baggaley, who has been called into camp in light of Hampton's injury.

When it comes to a country's player pool, Sarina Wiegman is certainly one of the more blessed international managers in the women's game right now. The England boss can call upon world-class players across various positions and has incredible depth in her squad, with the names on her bench making for enviable reading for most of her peers. However, that is not to say that the Lionesses do not have gaps in their squad, and even their starting line-up, that they need fresh faces to step up and fill as attention turns towards the 2027 Women's World Cup.