England v Brazil
Women's International
5.30pm BST, Saturday 25 October 2025
City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester

Sarina Wiegman and Alex Greenwood faced the press before the Lionesses kick off their Homecoming Tour against Brazil.

Here is what they had to say.

Wiegman on team news:

Hannah Hampton is not available for tomorrow. She has a small elbow injury. She’ll be assessed and see how that goes on Tuesday. Sophie Baggaley came in. Lotte [Wubben-Moy] went home. She felt unwell, so she’s recovering at home.

Lucy Bronze is available and she’s still building. I think, as always, Lucy Bronze is ready to start. Whether she’s going to start, you’ll see tomorrow.

On Bronze winning player of the year:

I think her consistency and the way she expresses herself or conducts herself on the pitch and off the pitch. She’s so tough and she has such a huge contribution. I think she impacts some of the players’ lives just by helping them, supporting them whenever they need something.

At the same time, she has great levels on the pitch because that’s why I pick her but when all these extras come with it, that really helps the team moving forward.

On the upcoming fixtures:

It’s always a test. It’s really good that we have four friendlies over this couple of months. What you also want to do is try out new things, see new players, see different combinations, so that’s a huge opportunity and I think it’s necessary too also because we have some injuries and of course, a retired player.

On the captaincy:

Keira will be the captain tomorrow. Alex is also one of the captains – she’s in the captains group – but when Leah is not available, Keira is the captain.

On looking back on the EUROs:

What we do always is, of course, celebrate and review what went well, what do we have to improve, what are the trends and how are we going to move forward because time flies and we want to move forward. That’s how we approach it to the player. The player will adapt to that in her own way and we’re trying to support.

We don’t ever push away what we have achieved because that’s very special and we’ll always cherish that but we have to move forward to. We’re already moving forward because there’s a game tomorrow and we want to stay on top.

This is the occasion or the opportunity to try out things – what we did last year too when we qualified for the EUROs and we tried out things. Some things will probably go well and some will not go so well but it gives us information about players, about ourselves, about opponents. It’s good to play countries that are outside of Europe too, to give us information. That will be very helpful and valuable moving forward.

On Brazil:

They’re very physical and athletic. They have a lot of pace up front. They can play football but they also really want to play fast forward, so that will challenge us. With the South American mentality, there will be a lot of flair. We’re trying to stay out of the fight a little bit and play football but they’ll go one-on-one and they’ll want to challenge and they’ll want to get into the duels.

We're LIVE with Sarina Wiegman and Alex Greenwood as they preview tomorrow’s game against Brazil. 💪 https://t.co/XZR5SSJJii

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) October 24, 2025

Greenwood on changes to the squad and staff:

[It’s been] a little bit different. Having fresh faces is always nice – new players coming in [and] to have experience as well. In terms of the backroom staff, they’ve been great so far. The training sessions have been really fun. It’s been nice to get to know them off the pitch as well. So far, so good.

On returning to the City of Manchester Stadium:

A lot of our players have some affiliation to Manchester. It’ll be nice for not just me but a lot of our players in the team. For me personally, going back to the Etihad will be really special and a really great occasion.

On the summer:

It’s still important that we enjoy what we did in the summer. We haven’t just turned up and forgotten about it. We’ve talked about it and I think we’ll continue to do that. In the same breath, we’re all so focused on the next challenge which is tomorrow and the next three games after that.

On looking ahead to the 2027 World Cup:

It is far away. I wouldn’t say it’s at the forefront of my mind right now. There’s so much to do before then but I’d also be lying if I didn’t say it was something I thought about and wanted to do. The team is also motivated to do that but I think we take each step as it comes. I think we have some challenges before then and quite a lot of preparation time as well.

Brazil in profile

 

Nickname: Selecao or AS Canarinhas
Coach: Arthur Elias
Captain: Rafaelle Souza
Last encounter: England 1-1 Brazil (4-2 Pens), 6 April 2023

 

Match Stats

 

● This will be England’s first meeting with Brazil since the 2023 Finalissima, with the Lionesses winning 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Wembley.

● This will be Brazil’s fourth visit to England in all competitions with each of the previous three ending with a different result: lost 0-1 in October 2018, won 2-1 in October 2019 and drew 1-1 in April 2023.

● This will be England’s sixth game played in Manchester and first since a 1-0 win against Austria at Old Trafford in the opening game of UEFA EURO 2022. The Lionesses’ only previous game at the Etihad Stadium ended in a 3-2 win over Finland at UEFA EURO 2005.

● Like England, Brazil also won in the final of a major tournament this summer on penalties, beating Colombia in the 2025 Copa América Femenina – they have lost only two of their last 15 games in all competitions (W10 D3), one of which was their most recent vs a European nation (2-3 vs France in June).

● England have won each of their last five home games without conceding, keeping six consecutive clean sheets in total on home soil. The Lionesses have only kept seven straight clean sheets in England once before, doing so between March 2006 and March 2007 under Hope Powell.

● England’s Sarina Wiegman has drawn each of her three previous meetings with Brazil, making them the only opponent she has faced more than once as an international manager without ever winning, and just the fourth overall (also faced Nigeria, Poland and Czechia once).

● Chloe Kelly has either scored (1) or assisted (2) in each of her last three England appearances, despite not starting any of them; the last Lioness to register a goal involvement in four straight appearances was Alessia Russo in July 2022, who was also a substitute each time.

● Brazil’s Amanda Gutierres was the joint-top goalscorer at the 2025 Copa América Femenina with six goals (level with Paraguay’s Claudia Martínez) – the 24 year old has scored in each of her last five international appearances and has scored nine goals across her last ten outings.

England women squad news

Click here to see the squad for this game.

 

 

Ticket Information for England women v Brazil

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How to watch or stream England women v Brazil

 

This game will be broadcast in the UK on ITV.

Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman has named her team to play Brazil, with a debut for goalkeeper Khiara Keating in her home town of Manchester.

It's the first game for England since their EURO 2025 success in the summer, and Wiegman has also opted for a centre-back pairing of Jess Carter and Esme Morgan while Alessia Russo leads the line flanked by Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead.

The team will be captained by Keira Walsh, while Alex Greenwood is playing at her club's home stadium for the first time on home soil since she picked up her 100th cap in the summer.

England: 1 Khiara Keating, 2 Maya Le Tissier, 3 Alex Greenwood, 4 Keira Walsh (c), 5 Jess Carter, 6 Esme Morgan, 7 Beth Mead, 8 Georgia Stanway, 9 Alessia Russo, 10 Ella Toone, 11 Chloe Kelly

Substitutes: 12 Lucy Bronze, 13 Anna Moorhouse, 14 Lucia Kendall, 15 Niamh Charles, 16 Aggie Beever-Jones, 17 Michelle Agyemang, 18 Missy Bo Kearns, 19 Jess Naz, 20 Laura Blindkilde Brown, 21 Sophie Baggaley, 22 Grace Fisk, 23 Taylor Hinds

Brazil dealt a blow to England’s hopes of a dream homecoming as two early goals saw the Lionesses fall to a 2-1 defeat at the City of Manchester Stadium in their first game since the EUROs.

It took just nine minutes for Brazil to take the lead as Bia Zaneratto charged onto the ball on the edge of the box to slot home into the bottom right corner.

And Brazil doubled the advantage before 20 minutes, as a turnover in the midfield allowed Dudinha to capitalise, curling home with the outside of her boot from the left of the box.

But with Brazil reduced to ten players three minutes later as Angelina received her marching orders, momentum shifted in England’s favour.

While they could not capitalise in the first half, it did not take long after the break for the Lionesses to pull one back as Georgia Stanway slotted home from the spot after Beth Mead had drawn a foul in the box.

Despite Stanway striking the crossbar with less than ten minutes to go, on this occasion the Lionesses could not find a way back into it.

Early defensive worries for England

Brazil caused all kinds of problems for England in the opening exchanges as the Lionesses turned out with a new look defence owing to a series of injuries.

Ludmila had an early chance to put the visitors ahead after a ball over the top put her through on goal, and while she skewed her shot wide it was a sign of things to come.

Brazil twice carved through the centre of England’s defence with relative ease to earn a comfortable cushion before half time.

With Dudinha drawing defenders to her, Bia operated well off her shoulder to find the space in behind and finish with aplomb.

It was a double act that England still had not learned to contain eight minutes later as Ella Toone gave the ball away in her own half before Bia was allowed to charge forward down the middle before playing Dudinha into her left to extend the lead.

While the Lionesses seemed to shore up their structure at the back, Sarina Wiegman may be left thanking the red card to Brazil in the absence of captain Leah Williamson.

Red card turns the tide

After Angelina was shown red for her foul on Toone, momentum swung towards the hosts.

Alex Greenwood rattled the crossbar with the resulting free-kick just outside the box, before Jess Carter nodded the rebound over with a gaping net in front of her.

It was mere minutes before Toone had skewed an effort just wide of the left post as the Lionesses turned up the pressure in Manchester.

And while the game settled after that flurry, England’s chances came with far more frequency.

In fact, the hosts could have had two just before half-time as Georgia Stanway was only stopped by a late block and Keira Walsh sent a long-range effort glancing onto the net.

Comeback pending

If the Lionesses had proven anything during the EUROs, it was that they would not go down without a fight and they showed as much in Manchester.

Just as Brazil struck early in the first half, England took much the same approach in the second.

As Beth Mead drove into the box, she was clipped by goalscorer Bia as she shaped to shoot, leading the referee to point to the spot before Stanway’s penalty halved the deficit.

Aggie Beever-Jones’ entry signalled new intent again and she nearly made an instant impact but saw her well-timed volley at the back post deflected behind for a corner.

As Brazil sat back, Esme Morgan was given licence to maraud forward at will and it nearly paid dividends for England.

With less than ten minutes on the clock she fed the ball to the feet of Stanway who saw a shot from range ricochet off the crossbar as the pressure only increased for the visitors.

It was a feeling the crowd could sense, or at least will, as Michelle Agyemang’s entry came to the loudest cheer the home crowd provided all night.

But, for once, England found themselves out of time despite their last-ditch efforts.

Keating earns her cap

With Hannah Hampton missing the Lionesses’ homecoming through injury, a goalkeeper’s debut was confirmed before the line-ups had even been announced and it was Khiara Keating handed the honour in her hometown.

While two goals inside the opening 20 minutes would not have been the debut she dreamed of, there was little she could do about either.

But as England’s defence settled, so too did Keating and despite her role becoming something of a sweeper for stray balls as Brazil sat back, a second-half clean sheet can provide confidence.

For Sarina Wiegman, it is experience added to her goalkeeping department which does not count for nothing.