England to play Women’s World Cup qualifier at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium | OneFootball

England’s home Women’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine in June will be played at Everton’s Hill ­Dickinson Stadium.

The Football Association’s decision to take the Lionesses to ­Everton’s 52,700-capacity ground demonstrates its growing confidence in the appeal of Sarina Wiegman’s team as they attempt to back up their double European Championship-winning heroics by winning the World Cup for the first time in 2027.

England’s campaign begins against Ukraine in Antalya next Tuesday before they host Iceland at ­Nottingham Forest’s City Ground four days later in a difficult group that also includes Spain, the ­Lionesses’ opponents in the ­European Championship final last year and the 2023 World Cup final.

The world champions will visit Wembley in a marquee fixture on 14 April before England play in ­Iceland four days later. The Lionesses’ qualifying campaign concludes with a visit to Spain on 5 June before their final game against Ukraine on 9 June.

England’s recent non-Wembley home games have been played at smaller grounds such as Southamp­ton’s St Mary’s Stadium and Derby County’s Pride Park, so a first visit to Everton’s new home stadium ­represents a significant step up in size.

Everton Women have been based at Goodison Park this season, attracting the third-highest average attendance figure in the Women’s Super League after Arsenal and Chelsea.

Everton have been active in ­hiring out Hill Dickinson Stadium since it opened last summer.

England’s rugby league side played an Ashes Test against Australia there last November, a Nations Championship rugby union international between Fiji and England has been scheduled for July, and Scotland will face Côte d’Ivoire in a World Cup warm-up game next month.

The stadium has also been put forward as a potential venue as part of the UK’s 2035 Women’s World Cup bid.

The FA and Everton declined to comment.

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