Ameé Ruszkai

England's Lionesses have learned the location of their next European Championship title defence after UEFA announced the hosts of Euro 2029 on Wednesday. Poland, Germany and a joint-effort from Denmark and Sweden were the three official bids submitted for the next edition of the tournament, which will see Sarina Wiegman's side go for a third successive continental crown after triumphs in England in 2022 and in Switzerland in 2025.

England's incredibly memorable 2025 is now in the books after the Lionesses closed out their 'homecoming' series on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Ghana. Sarina Wiegman's side have been taking their European Championship trophy around the country over the last couple of months, showing off the silverware while entertaining the fans who celebrated its return home as excitedly as the players themselves. They've certainly done the latter as of late, bouncing back from defeat to Brazil to finish the year with three successive wins.

Lucia Kendall's fairytale goal helped the Lionesses see off Ghana on Tuesday night, with one of England's most exciting young prospects scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 win and doing so at St Mary's Stadium, home of the Southampton side she represented for 10 memorable years. It was with the Saints that Kendall broke into senior football and when she made her international debut in October, she became the club's first ever Lioness, so it was fitting that she would find the back of the net on her return to a special venue.

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

Lionesses star Chloe Kelly limped off with an injury in England's clash with Ghana on Tuesday night, casting doubt over her availability moving forward as Arsenal prepare to enter a very important part of their season. The Gunners have two huge Champions League games coming up this month, as the holders bid to qualify for the knockout stages, but they could well have to take on those challenges without Kelly.

It's hard to overstate the degree to which Chloe Kelly captured the attention of a nation this past summer. Her pivotal performances in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the 2025 European Championship helped drive England on to a second successive continental crown while also catapulting her name into the limelight like never before, even surpassing the levels achieved after her extra-time goal won Euro 2022. Yet, fans tuning into the Women's Super League this season hoping to see Kelly's magic in action for Arsenal, will have been disappointed.

A complete guide to the United States' year, including fixtures in qualifying for the 2027 Women's World Cup

Georgia Stanway went home with the match ball on Saturday after bagging a hat-trick in England's record-breaking 8-0 win over China, one just short of a record defeat for the 1999 Women's World Cup finalists. A dominant display, which had the European champions 3-0 up inside just 16 minutes, returned the Lionesses' biggest ever win at Wembley Stadium, surpassing the 6-0 thumping dealt out to Portugal back in May.

It’s no secret that, despite winning the last two European Championship titles and reaching the final of the most recent Women's World Cup, England’s Lionesses lack options at left-back. Sarina Wiegman has tried plenty to address the issue, deploying centre-forward Rachel Daly there for a good while, moving centre-backs across to test their credentials there and even changing formation to mask the problem.

Whether hearing the team news over the tannoy in the stadium or seeing the line-up graphics revealed on their television screens, there are likely to be many England fans who encounter some unfamiliar names when watching the Lionesses play their final two matches of 2025 over the course of this next week - and they can certainly be forgiven.

England are missing a lot of key names for their final international camp of 2025. Captain Leah Williamson remains sidelined, making the absences of both Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter all the more notable in a depleted centre-back unit, while Lauren James remains out of the squad having only just returned from injury at Chelsea. Perhaps the most significant bit of team news, though, concerns Hannah Hampton, who could miss the rest of the year with a quad issue.

Lionesses star Hannah Hampton has been named BBC Women's Footballer of the Year following her exceptional exploits for England and Chelsea. After helping the Blues to win an unbeaten domestic treble, the goalkeeper inspired the Lionesses to an incredible Euro 2025 triumph and the individual accolades have now followed, with this just the latest award to come the 25-year-old's way.

When the draw for the first ever league phase of the Women's Champions League was made back in September, there were a lot of ties that caught the eye. From the repeat of last year's semi-final between eventual champions Arsenal and eight-time winners Lyon, to the return of Mary Earps to Old Trafford as her current side, Paris Saint-Germain, faced former club Manchester United, it was a draw that certainly did not disappoint. But no fixture drew the attention quite like that which will take place on Thursday at Stamford Bridge, between Chelsea and Barcelona.

It's no wonder Camilla Kuver can't stop smiling. After making her Champions League debut only a couple of weeks prior, the 22-year-old has just won her first and second caps for Germany, starting both games against France over the last international break to help her country qualify for the Nations League final. These would be milestones worth celebrating for any player, but they are particularly special for the Wolfsburg defender, given the incredible bad luck she has had with injuries over the past four years.

It's crazy how quickly things can change in football. Mary Earps, who has made plenty of headlines over the past fortnight around of the release of her book 'All In', is a prime example of as much. Only six months ago, the goalkeeper stood tall as a true England hero, having delivered world-class performances in the Lionesses' 2022 European Championship triumph and their run to the 2023 Women's World Cup final. Recent events, however, have seen Earps veer more towards villain territory than anything else.

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.