Team GB's Olympic squad: Predicting the 18 players heading to Tokyo 2020

Team GB will take a women's football team to the Olympics this summer for only the second time in history, with players from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all competing for a ticket to Tokyo.

Hege Riise, England's interim head coach, was confirmed in March as the person who will lead the team in Japan, following Phil Neville's departure to Inter Miami.

After an uncertain few months, things are starting to become a lot clearer on all fronts, including with regards to which footballers will represent Great Britain this summer.

The draw for the Games was also made in April, confirming that Team GB's group stage opponents will be Japan, Canada and Chile.

What has been said?

Baroness Sue Campbell, the Football Association's Director of Women's Football, speaking in February, talked about what the coaches will be looking for in players for the Team GB women's football team.

"Physical condition is going to be absolutely key. The fact that people need to be playing week in and week out is really important to us," she explained.

"The second part of what we're looking at is mental toughness and mental resilience. That ability to cope with a result that perhaps wasn't quite where you wanted, or the fact you didn't get off the bench or whatever.

"Thirdly, we really want to make sure that people are versatile. When we go into the Olympics, we will only have a squad of 18, which is much smaller than we'd normally have. Those factors are really critical in terms of the selection that we do now for camp and the selection we do going forward."

In March, Campbell revealed that the longlist, which previously had 50 players on, was being cut to 35 names, with players to be informed. The final squad of 18 will be submitted in May, with four additional players to travel to Tokyo as reserves.

Which players are in contention?

The Team GB squad will mostly be made up of England players, given they are ranked higher than Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. However, there is still plenty of talent within those nations.

From Scotland, Chelsea's Erin Cuthbert, Manchester City's Caroline Weir and the Arsenal trio of Lisa Evans, Kim Little and Jen Beattie will be the main names in the mix. Wales have talented midfielders in Reading's Jess Fishlock, Manchester United's Hayley Ladd and Chelsea's Sophie Ingle. Northern Ireland's star player is Liverpool midfielder Rachel Furness, while striker Simone Magill is also playing well across Merseyside, at Everton.

Weir has been one of the stand-out players in the Women's Super League this season and would provide the team with a wicked left foot, which England do not have many of.

Getty

Cuthbert and Ingle could both suffer from not playing week-in, week-out at Chelsea, such is the depth of their squad. Little, Evans and Beattie have also not played as regularly as usual at Arsenal due to injuries.

Within the England squad, there are a number of names heavily expected to go to Japan. Goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck; defenders Lucy Bronze, Steph Houghton, Millie Bright; midfielder Keira Walsh; the versatile Fran Kirby; and forwards Nikita Parris and Ellen White are among those.

Everton's Sandy MacIver will compete for the second goalkeeper spot with the experienced duo of Karen Bardsley and Carly Telford. Rachel Daly's versatility should aid her push for a spot, with Leah Williamson leading the remaining centre-back candidates, being challenged by Arsenal team-mate Lotte Wubben-Moy in particular. Alex Greenwood's regular game time as both a centre-back and a left-back this season could work to her advantage.

It would be a huge surprise to see striker Beth England left out, despite her not starting every week at Chelsea. The same can be said of Jill Scott, who has joined Everton on loan for the second half of the season after limited minutes at Man City.

Wingers Lauren Hemp and Beth Mead will be hopeful of staking their claim for one of the final spots among the forwards, but Chloe Kelly, one of the stand-out players in the WSL this season, will sadly miss out after suffering an ACL injury in City's penultimate game of the season.

Competition in midfield across the home nations is especially interesting, with Ingle, Ladd, Fishlock, Little and Weir competing with Jordan Nobbs, Ella Toone and Georgia Stanway for tickets on the plane.

Who will be the coach?

Neville was set to lead the Team GB women's football team to the Olympics, but he left his role as England head coach in January in order to join MLS club Inter Miami.

Riise, an Olympic gold medallist with Norway in Sydney in 2000, was subsequently announced as Neville's temporary replacement, with her on a contract until August. After then, Sarina Wiegman will take over as England head coach.

After a successful first camp with the Lionesses' boss in February, Riise was unveiled as the head coach for Team GB in March. Rhian Wilkinson, who won two Olympic bronze medals as a player with Canada, will be her assistant. Another coach to support the pair will be announced in due course.

Predicted squad

Goalkeepers : Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City), Sandy MacIver (Everton).

Defenders : Lucy Bronze (Manchester City), Steph Houghton (Manchester City), Millie Bright (Chelsea), Leah Williamson (Arsenal), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash).

Midfielders : Keira Walsh (Manchester City), Caroline Weir (Manchester City), Jill Scott (Everton), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Sophie Ingle (Chelsea), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal).

Forwards : Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Nikita Parris (Lyon), Ellen White (Manchester City), Beth England (Chelsea).