England news

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.

ITV presenter Laura Woods was taken ill during ITV's broadcast of England Women's friendly against Ghana on Tuesday. While speaking with Ian Wright and Anita Asante, Woods fell forward, and the Arsenal legend appeared to try to catch her. The broadcaster then cut to an extended break, with Woods replaced by Katie Shanahan ahead of kick-off.

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.

Desire Doue, who bagged a brace for Paris Saint-Germain in their historic Champions League final victory over Inter, has collected his Golden Boy award for 2025. Tuttosport announced the winners of their prestigious prizes in November. England’s teenage striker Michelle Agyemang, who helped the Lionesses to European Championship glory, has landed the Golden Girl gong.

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.

Keira Walsh has explains that her leadership will be a change from England team-mate Leah Williamson as she prepares to captain her country against China. The Lionesses will entertain the Steel Roses on Saturday at a sold-out Wembley Stadium, with Walsh set to skipper the side. Ahead of this encounter, the Chelsea ace admits she has had to adjust to this new role in Williamson's absence.

Ellie Roebuck has returned to the England squad for meetings with China and Ghana, the FA has confirmed. The Aston Villa stopper replaces Manchester City goalkeeper Khiara Keating due to injury, her first time being selected by the Lionesses since shortly after the 2023 World Cup. In the intervening years, Roebuck's health issues had put her entire career in severe jeopardy.

The United Kingdom has launched a joint bid to host the 2035 Women's World Cup. England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are hoping to host the tournament in just under a decade, with the proposal including 22 stadiums. The competition would be the largest single-sport event ever staged in the UK and the first FIFA World Cup hosted on these shores since 1966.

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.

England's centre-back room looks almost unrecognisable this month to how it has for the majority of Sarina Wiegman's tenure. With Millie Bright having recently retired, Leah Williamson still injured, Alex Greenwood ruled out for a few weeks and Jess Carter granted a period of rest, Wiegman is set to name a starting defence without any of that quartet for just the second, and third, time in her four years in charge of the Lionesses when her side take on China and Ghana over the course of the next week.

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.