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Wiegman welcomes Australia challenge after Brazil defeat

England will need shake off defeat from their first October international as they play host to Australia in a rematch of the 2023 World Cup semi-final.

The Lionesses were on the losing side of their first outing since winning Euro 2025, with Brazil emerging 2-1 victors at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Sarina Wiegman’s side now welcome a Matildas side out for revenge after England ended their dream of a home World Cup triumph two years ago.

The Lionesses may be boosted by the return of Euros hero Hannah Hampton between the sticks, who missed the Brazil clash with an elbow issue.

CONFIRMED TEAM NEWS!

Will Castle28 October 2025 18:01

Team news expected soon

Not long until we discover who will play where for tonight’s clash between England and Australia. Here’s a quick reminder of what we know so far...

Wiegman confirmed Hannah Hampton could be back available to face Australia after missing the Brazil clash with a minor elbow issue. She also said that there may have been some “niggles” from the Brazil game but did not provide any names. Lucy Bronze and Niamh Charles are still being “worked on” so will be unlikely to start.

Australia will turn to star attackers Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord to do the damage against the Lionesses. Both will be familiar with their opposition from their extensive experience playing in the WSL with Chelsea and Arsenal respectively.

Lionesses vow to take lessons from feisty defeat to 10-player Brazil

Sarina Wiegman felt lessons would be learnt after England suffered defeat in their first match since their Euro 2025 triumph.

The Lionesses paid the price for a poor start as they were beaten 2-1 by 10-player Brazil in the first friendly of their homecoming tour at the Etihad Stadium.

Wiegman said: "Of course you hope for another result but I think this was a very good game to start with again after the Euros against a very good opponent.

"A South American opponent was really what we wanted because that's different, more emotional, more extrovert. It's good for us to have that in front of us. They played very direct.

"Of course we wanted to get a better result but I also think that we got a lot of challenges in this game that we really need to experience to know what we can improve.

"I think some things we did really well, and I think some things we didn't do well. That's really good to see because if you play an opponent that doesn't give you those challenges, then you're not going to learn enough."

There was an edge to the friendly as Brazil held on to claim a win (AP)

Will Castle28 October 2025 17:30

Sarina Wiegman hits back at criticism over slow starts

England have gone behind in each of their last four outings, including their come-from-behind victories in the Euros this summer over Sweden, Italy and Spain, and then against Brazil on Saturday.

The Lionesses have been accused of starting slow but Sarina Wiegman disagreed and admitted she enjoyed the challenge that top countries like Brazil and Australia pose.

She said: “I think the Spain game, we started well and we could’ve scored 1-0. The Italy game we could’ve scored 1-0. The Sweden game we didn’t start that well. The France game we started really well and scored a goal.

“So I don’t agree that we have slow starts all the time – we just got behind.

“I do agree, on Saturday we didn’t start well enough. We had to get more physical. We talked about that – the players felt the same. So we’re definitely going to give everything to start better tomorrow.

“We are excited to go again tomorrow, have the opportunity straight away. We want to play top countries because they will challenge us – being challenged shows areas we need to improve on.”