Bedford Keeps England Focused as U20 World Cup Uncertainty Grows | OneFootball

England’s Under-23 head coach Lydia Bedford says the Football Association has told her to “just continue as usual” as preparations continue for next month’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup, despite Uefa threatening to boycott the tournament entirely. Bedford has to name her Young Lionesses squad next week, with no clarity yet on whether the FA will actually send a team to Poland.

What Bedford Actually Said About The Boycott Threat

Bedford found out about the dispute in an unlikely place. Speaking to BBC Sport in Portugal after England’s 2-0 warm-up win over Portugal’s Under-20s, she said she was at the theatre in London when her dad called her out of nowhere. From where she stood, the message from leadership had always been simple: carry on as usual. So that’s what the squad have done.

The players haven’t dwelled on it much either, Bedford said, because every session on the grass is about getting the team into the best possible shape. Her focus stays on preparing the group, not the politics hanging over it.

Where The Wider Dispute Stands

The row traces back to Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other competitions to private investors. Uefa and its 55 members threatened a boycott of Fifa competitions in response, and that stance hasn’t moved even though the proposal itself was scrapped earlier this month. The Under-20 Women’s World Cup is now the first tournament that could actually feel the impact.

Six European nations are set to compete in Poland from 5-27 September, and none have told the hosts they’re pulling out. Poland midfielder Weronika Arasniewicz was blunt about her own hopes: don’t do it, let the football happen, let people enjoy it. She said she’d be gutted if the tournament got cancelled, since you never know how many World Cups you’ll get a shot at in a career.

Not everyone in England’s camp sees it the way Bedford does. Lucy Bronze has argued that boycotting Fifa competitions would be the right call for the good of the game, even accepting what it might cost women’s football in the process. Asked about Bronze’s comments, Bedford kept her answer narrow: her job is getting the team ready, and if they get the green light for Poland, they’ll show up and be competitive when they arrive. Her line throughout hasn’t changed, continue as usual. For more on the wider fallout, She Kicks has been tracking the developing boycott dispute as it threatens to overshadow the tournament.

What Comes Next For The Young Lionesses

Bedford, who took over the Under-23s role in March, still has to trim her squad down before Poland. She called it an incredibly difficult decision after seeing the strength in depth on show against Portugal. Whether that squad actually gets on a plane depends entirely on a governance standoff nobody on the pitch asked for.