Match Report: England 2-0 Ghana
- L. Kendall (6′)
- A. Russo (95′PEN)
- M. Kearns (15′)
- K. Walsh (98′)
- C. Yeboah (84′)
The Lionesses end 2025 with a comfortable victory in Southampton in a first-ever meeting with Ghana
Highlights: England 2-0 Ghana
See the best of the action as the Lionesses end 2025 with a win in Southampton
England v Ghana
Women's International
7pm GMT, Tuesday 2 December 2025
St Mary's Stadium
Sarina Wiegman and Aggie Beever-Jones spoke to the media on Monday morning ahead of the game on Tuesday evening.
Here is what they had to say.
Wiegman on the fitness of the squad:
Not everyone is available. Unfortunately, Grace Fisk picked up a small injury, so she will not be available for tomorrow.
On managing players’ minutes and busy club schedules:
There’s always connections with the managers and there’s also always calls before and after camp. I’m very aware about the schedule, so you’ll see some changes tomorrow and try to manage minutes but also, we don’t have that many opportunities to play and to play friendlies.
After this camp, we only have eight more camps to go until the World Cup. We need to qualify first – I know that. You want to use the time together and the minutes on the pitch as much as possible too.
On returning to St. Mary’s where she took charge of her first game:
When we came here, I said this is what it was. Time flew, so it feels like ages ago that game but I still have a good memory of that. It was a very nice start. To be in England and starting that journey, it’s nice to be back.
On looking back on 2025:
It has been an incredible year again with the journey. The season started last year around this time with the team getting prepared for the EUROs. I think the camps we had from February towards the EUROs was great and I think the tournament itself, I’ve said a couple of times, was an incredible tournament again.
On the pitch, I still think it was insane how the games developed but off the pitch was really calm and I think I enjoyed it more than I did the other tournaments before. I like now the homecoming too, having these friendlies with the last one tomorrow, connecting with the fans.
We had 75,000 last Saturday and tomorrow, there’s already 24,000 tickets sold – that’s really incredible.
We're LIVE with Sarina Wiegman and Aggie Beever-Jones as they preview tomorrow’s game against Ghana at St Mary's Stadium in Southampton. 💪 https://t.co/p5WBySlU2o
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) December 1, 2025
Beever-Jones on victory over China:
Coming away from the game, it was a great performance – 8-0 at Wembley. Georgia got a hat-trick and I think it was a great team performance and we were able to show some really good quality. I think we had eight or nine clear chances and we got eight goals.
I think it’s a really exciting time to play a non-European team and a team that England has never played before. For me personally, being at Southampton is quite nice. My family are near from the Isle of Wight and they’ll be coming over. It’s nice to get a different calibre of people, fans and like Sarina said, to have 24,000 fans and hopefully a few more tickets sold, it’ll be a really, really good game.
On representing her country:
Playing for England is one of the greatest honours. Every time I get the opportunity, I want to show people what I can do and give Sarina the right kind of headaches. Every single player wants to play for England and whenever we get the opportunity, it’s about taking it.
I think it just shows the calibre of players that we have that every single player is a world-class player and ready to perform whenever they put an England shirt on.
On her goalscoring form:
I love playing football and I love scoring but I’ve always said sometimes it’s never as easy as being a striker and being able to put the ball in the back of the net. It’s about the performances and helping the team where I can. I think people have this thing about me scoring goals but I’m just trying to do what I can to help the team.
I believe everything will fall into place when I’m free and I’m playing my best football. Saying that, scoring is one of the best feelings in the world.
On reflecting on the year:
If you said this time last year, this is what would’ve happened, I’d probably wouldn’t have believed you just because of the season we had at Chelsea, coming into the EUROs and when Sarina called me to say that I was in, I was buzzing anyway, let alone then winning it. It was an incredible year. I think probably one of the best years in terms of football I’ve had, for sure.
Ghana in profile
Nickname: The Black Queens
Coach: Kim Björkegren
Captain: Portia Boakye
Match Stats
● This will be the first ever meeting between England and Ghana. The Lionesses are unbeaten in each of their last 39 matches when facing an opponent for the first time (W32 D7), since a 2-0 loss to Germany in 1984, and have won each of their last 12 such games by an aggregate score of 65-1.
● England are unbeaten in each of their last five matches against African opposition (W4 D1), since a 3-0 home loss to Nigeria in April 2004.
● England have never conceded in four previous games at St Mary’s Stadium, the joint-most times they have played at a venue without doing so (also Keepmoat, New Meadow and Bramall Lane). That includes Sarina Wiegman’s first game in charge of the Lionesses in September 2021, beating North Macedonia 8-0 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier, and most recently a 5-0 victory vs Northern Ireland at UEFA EURO 2022.
● Ghana are unbeaten in their last seven matches in all competitions (W3 D4), since losing their first match of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations this summer to South Africa.
● England are unbeaten in their final home game in each of the last four calendar years, since they lost 2-1 to Germany in 2019 (no home game in 2020); the Lionesses beat Latvia 20-0 in November 2021, drew 0-0 with Czechia in October 2022, beat the Netherlands 3-2 in December 2023 and in December last year won 1-0 against Switzerland.
● England have won their last two matches (3-0 vs Australia, 8-0 vs China PR), last winning more consecutively between December 2023 and February 2024 (4); 2021 was the last time the Lionesses ended a calendar year on a win streak of 3+ matches (6).
● England beat China PR 8-0 last time out, their biggest win since September 2022 vs Luxembourg (10-0). It was the eighth time the Lionesses have won a game by eight or more goals under Sarina Wiegman, at least five more such wins than under any other manager (Mark Sampson – 3).
● Last time out 30-year-old Anna Moorhouse became the oldest player to make their England debut on record (since 2007); she was also the first goalkeeper to debut for the Lionesses while playing their club football outside of England (Orlando Pride) since Lizzie Durack in March 2014 (Harvard University).
● Georgia Stanway scored her first international hat-trick against China PR last weekend and since her England debut in November 2018 only Beth Mead (37 goals, 29 assists) has more goals and more assists than the midfielder (29 goals, 19 assists), who is now two away from 50 goal involvements for the Lionesses.
● Ella Toone has both the most goal involvements (11) and most assists (6) of any England player in 2025 – the last Lioness to record seven assists in a calendar year was Lauren James in 2023 and the last to provide eight or more was Beth Mead in 2022 (10).
From the archive: Northern Ireland 0-5 England
The Lionesses' last visit to St Mary's Stadium came during the group stage of EURO 2022
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Sarina Wiegman has named her team to play Ghana, in the Lionesses' final match of 2025.
There's a start in central defence for Lotte Wubben-Moy and Maya Le Tissier, while Lucia Kendall is named in the lineup at the club where she started her career.
For the likes of Jess Park, Missy-Bo Kearns and Taylor Hinds there are also opportunities to impress from the start.
Unfortunately, defender Esme Morgan wasn't available for selection due to illness.
England: 1 Anna Moorhouse, 2 Lucy Bronze, 3 Taylor Hinds, 4 Keira Walsh (c), 5 Maya Le Tissier, 6 Lotte Wubben-Moy, 7 Jess Park, 8 Lucia Kendall, 9 Aggie Beever-Jones, 10 Missy-Bo Kearns, 11 Chloe Kelly.
Substitutes: 12 Niamh Charles, 13 Sophie Baggaley, 14 Georgia Stanway, 16 Alessia Russo, 17 Lauren Hemp, 18 Ella Toone, 19 Beth Mead, 20 Laura Blindkilde Brown, 21 Ellie Roebuck, 22 Grace Clinton, 23 Anouk Denton, 24 Freya Godfrey
Lucia Kendall’s first England goal helped the Lionesses to a hard-fought 2-0 win against Ghana at St. Mary’s Stadium.
It looked as though England would pick up from where they left off following their 8-0 victory over China when Kendall fired home inside the opening ten minutes.
But Alessia Russo’s stoppage-time penalty would be the only addition to the scoreline as the Black Queens provided a far more defensively resolute challenge than the Lionesses faced at Wembley days earlier.
It took no time for a side that featured seven changes to click into gear, however, as Kendall got Sarina Wiegman’s side off the mark after just six minutes.
Her first England goal came in fairytale fashion, too, as she celebrated in front of the 20,252-strong Southampton crowd, having received her footballing education in the city.
The midfielder pounced on a loose ball in the box, after Ghana debutant Bénédicte Simon failed to clear Chloe Kelly’s cross into the box, to slot home from close range.
Further opportunities presented themselves to the Lionesses, with Kelly firing Keira Walsh’s cross over before Cynthia Conlan saved well from Missy Bo Kearns’ central strike.
With Kelly being forced off after 23 minutes and replaced by Beth Mead, the Lionesses continued to dominate proceedings and Aggie Beever-Jones broke free but saw her shot deflected and saved.
And with less than five minutes left of the first half, Conlan had her work cut out as Kearns forced a brilliant save before the resulting corner was headed onto the crossbar by Kendall.
The midfielder pounced on a loose ball in the box, after Ghana debutant Bénédicte Simon failed to clear Chloe Kelly’s cross into the box, to slot home from close range.
Further opportunities presented themselves to the Lionesses, with Kelly firing Keira Walsh’s cross over before Cynthia Conlan saved well from Missy Bo Kearns’ central strike.
With Kelly being forced off after 23 minutes and replaced by Beth Mead, the Lionesses continued to dominate proceedings and Aggie Beever-Jones broke free but saw her shot deflected and saved.
And with less than five minutes left of the first half, Conlan had her work cut out as Kearns forced a brilliant save before the resulting corner was headed onto the crossbar by Kendall.
While play settled, opportunities continued to present themselves. A clever short free-kick from Mead on 70 minutes saw Russo force another save with her first touch before fellow substitute Lauren Hemp sent an unmarked header over the crossbar from the corner.
The Lionesses continued to push for more but struggled to execute the end product as Hemp and Hinds both saw crosses veer two close to the Ghana ‘keeper.
It looked as if they had found their second in stoppage time as Russo directed a header on target after a scramble in the box but saw her shot blocked.
But on review by VAR the block was deemed to have been made by the arm of Comfort Yeboah and Russo made no mistake to fire the resulting penalty into right corner to double England’s lead.
Substitutes: 19 Beth Mead (Arsenal) for Kelly 23, 17 Lauren Hemp (Manchester City) for Park 61, 22 Grace Clinton (Manchester City) for Kendall 62, 20 Laura Blindkilde Brown (Manchester City) for Kearns, 16 Alessia Russo (Arsenal) for Beever-Jones 74, 23 Anouk Denton (West Ham United) for Bronze 96
Substitutes not used: 13 Sophie Baggaley (Brighton & Hove Albion), 21 Ellie Roebuck (Aston Villa), 12 Niamh Charles (Chelsea), 14 Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), 18 Ella Toone (Manchester United), 24 Freya Godfrey (London City Lionesses)
Head coach: Sarina Wiegman
Ghana: 1 Cynthia Konlan; 2 Bénédicte Simon, 17 Portia Boakye, 3 Susan Duah, 15 Comfort Yeboah; 6 Jennifer Cudjoe, 5 Grace Asantewaa; 11 Alice Kusi, 8 Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah, 14 Stella Nyamekye; 9 Doris Boaduwaa
Substitutes: 93 Abi Kim for Boaduwaa 58, 7 Princess Marfo for Kusi 58, 13 Evelyn Badu for Boye-Hlorkah 77, 10 Princella Adubea for Nyamekye 77, 12 Anasthesia Achiaa for Simon 91, 95 Nancy Amoh for Cudjoe 91
Substitutes not used: 94 Afi Amenyeku, 16 Kerrie McCarthy, 4 Nina Norshie, 23 Jospehine Bonsu, 96 Mary Amponsah, 97 Ernestina Abambila, 98 Louisa Aniwaa
Manager: Kim Björkegren
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