England and Scotland have been building up to their World Cup opener for months but the day has finally arrived that the teams will get to face off at Nice’s Allianz Riviera.
The Lionesses approach the tournament as one of the favourites to go all the way in France, though they suffered a hiccup in their preparations for the tournament with a 1-0 loss to New Zealand in a friendly in Brighton last week.
Scotland, meanwhile, have qualified for the tournament for the first time and are seeking to continue an undefeated run of five matches that has seen them defeat Brazil and Jamaica in the last couple of months.
| Game | England vs Scotland |
| Date | Sunday, June 9 |
| Time | 5:00pm BST / 12 noon ET |
| Stream (US) | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
For UK readers, get your fix on the latest football on TV here! US readers can find out what soccer is on TV here!
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Telemundo / FOX Network | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will be broadcast on BBC One and can be streamed via BBC iPlayer.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| BBC One | BBC iPlayer |
Squads & Team News
| Position | England squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Bardsley, Telford, Earps |
| Defenders | Bronze, Greenwood, Houghton, Bright, Stokes, Williamson, McManus, Daly |
| Midfielders | Walsh, Scott, Moore, Stanway, Carney, Staniforth |
| Forwards | Parris, Taylor, Kirkby, Duggan, White, Mead |
Despite it being the opener, Phil Neville lacks the full set of players at his disposal.
Toni Duggan and Demi Stokes may not have been fit to feature and did not make the XI, while Neville has opted for Bethany Mead over Karen Carney.
The former Manchester United defender has suggested the XI that he uses on Sunday will be the one he picks in all the group games, where possible.
Confirmed England starting XI: Bardsley; Bronze, Houghton, Bright, Greenwood; Walsh, Scott; Parris, Kirby, Mead; White
| Position | Scotland squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Alexander, Lynn, Fife |
| Defenders | Smith, Docherty, Corsie, Beattie, Lauder, Arthur, Howard, J.Murray |
| Midfielders | Love, Little, Weir, Crichton, C.Murray, Arnot |
| Forwards | Evans, Ross, Emslie, Clelland, Brown, Cuthbert |
Scotland are similarly free of injury concerns approaching their opening World Cup fixture.
Confirmed Scotland starting XI: Alexander; Howard, Corsie, Beattie, Docherty; Evans, Weir, Little, Emslie; Cuthbert; Murray
Betting & Match Odds
England are hot favourites to win this match with bet365, priced at 2/9. Scotland are out at 12/1 while a draw is available at 19/4.
Match Preview
After finishing third at the 2015 World Cup in Canada, England intend to go all the way in France, having approached the tournament in a bullish manner.
They received something of a knock, therefore, when they suffered a shock 1-0 loss to New Zealand in front of 20,000 in Brighton at the start of the month. Though they dominated the game, playing with an XI that was a little below full strength, it was not the ideal send off prior to Nice.
“The challenge now is for us all to perform on the big stage,” manager Phil Neville said after that loss.
“We’ve talked long and hard about it, we’ve not been shy about our expectations. Now we need to deliver. That’s my challenge and my excitement. We’ve dreamt of this moment all our lives.
"When we get to it we’re going to have to perform. I’m going to have to manage better than I ever have and they’re going to have to play, to have any kind of success they are going to have superhuman efforts. People don’t just knock on the door and give you a World Cup medal.”
Meanwhile, he shrugged off the defeat against opponents ranked only one spot higher than the Scots in the FIFA ranking.
“If we’d have won today, it would be ‘it was just New Zealand’. The players are deflated because of the crowd. I think they know really that it’s all about the Scotland game now. Nothing in the Denmark or New Zealand game was going to change our thinking,” he said.
Kerr’s side, meanwhile, were watched by a record crowd of 18,500 as they defeated Jamaica 3-2 in Glasgow on May 28, Erin Cuthbert’s long-range goal the highlight of a satisfactory night for the World Cup debutantes.
“We experimented a bit. We wanted to see players in different positions. The most important thing for us is to go away and reflect,” the manager said after the Hampden encounter.
“As much as there were good things in the game, there are things we need to improve on. Jamaica were very direct and they have some very quick players and at times we struggled to cope with that.”
Nevertheless, Scotland travel to Nice undefeated in their last five internationals and hoping to stretch that record to six against the Auld Enemy.
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