Wiegman excited by first Nations League and England's 'healthy rivalry' with Scotland

Sarina Wiegman is relishing the chance to compete in the first-ever UEFA Women’s Nations League and is excited to experience her first England-Scotland match.

The Lionesses head coach named her 24-player squad for the forthcoming Nations League matches against Scotland and the Netherlands on Wednesday afternoon.

England will play both teams and Belgium twice between now and early December in the hope of winning the group and reaching February’s four-team Nations League Finals.

Semi-finals between the four League A winners will then see two teams reach the first-ever Nations League final and guarantee a place at next summer’s 2024 Paris Olympic Games in the process.

There will also be a third-place play-off match between the two defeated semi-finalists, which could prove key if France reach the final because then the second Olympic qualifying place goes to the team who finishes third.

Sarina Wiegman joins us live from @wembleystadium!🎙 https://t.co/ckygNg8zhH

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) September 13, 2023

“This is the first Nations League ever, which is very exciting and it means more competitive games,” Wiegman said during her press conference from Wembley Stadium connected by EE.

“We will have to do well in the Nations League to qualify for the Olympics, which will be really hard because you have to finish first in your group and then reach the final of the Nations League – unless France gets to the final then you can finish third to qualify.

“So it will be hard but we obviously want to qualify for the Olympics.”

She continued: “The Nations League will be a challenge but it is good for the game because when you start a match, you shouldn’t already know the team who are going to win. We want games to be competitive so that will be really good and it will help to grow the game, which is exciting and it is good that we have this competition now.”

The campaign starts with a mouth-watering clash between England and neighbours Scotland at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on Friday 22 September.

This will be followed by a fixture in her native Netherlands at the Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht on Tuesday 26 September.

It was put to Wiegman that should England qualify for the finals of the 2023-24 UEFA Women’s Nations League, and the draw goes in their favour, there could be a chance to win another trophy at Wembley Stadium, following the Lionesses’ success at the UEFA Women’s EURO and the first-ever Women’s Finalissima.

“I like to play finals and my players do too!” Wiegman said with a smile.

“It starts next week and we want to have a good start. We know what we want and we want to have a good start against Scotland.”

She continued: “I know Scotland pretty well because I played them with the Netherlands a lot. Over the last period, they have had Pedro Martínez Losa as their coach and they have done well.

“They have had some impressive results and they have played well too. They have players who we know really well and have played in the Women’s Super League.

“They are a solid team, they will want to play their possession game and they play recognisable football.

“We know some of their players really well because they either have or still are playing with some of our players so it will be a competitive match and there is a healthy rivalry between the two teams.”

England’s 24-player squad consisted of those who finished runners-up at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and players who had been on standby.

Bethany England and Keira Walsh miss out due to injury and these fixtures have come too early for the likes of Fran Kirby, Beth Mead and Leah Williamson, who all had to sit out this summer’s tournament through injury.

For Mead, missing out on the Scotland match also means missing out on playing at the Stadium of Light, home to Sunderland, where she made her name as a teenage striker.

Wiegman said: “They really supported the team over the summer. We had lots of big fans and they were some of our biggest fans.

“They had hoped to be in the squad so it is disappointing for them because they feel ready to go and they have been out for a long time. They are not fully ready but, in their mind, they feel ready to go but they need a little bit of patience.

“The competition is high in the team too so it is about getting ready, playing and training fully, getting games and then showing their performances again and starting the competition to get in [the squad] again.”