England vs Ghana live: Chloe Kelly starts for Lionesses as Sarina Wiegman makes sweeping changes for friendly | OneFootball

(Steven Paston/PA Wire)

England play their last friendly game of the year against Ghana on Tuesday, with the Lionesses riding high after an 8-0 drubbing of China last week.

Georgia Stanway scored a hat-trick while Lauren Hemp, Ella Toone, Beth Mead and Alessia Russo all found the back of the net in a total rout in front of appreciative crowds at Wembley.

Having previously said she would use these games to “experiment” manager Sarina Wiegman instead opted to stick with a side of old faithfuls against China, so she may use the Lionesses’ final friendly of the year to blood new players.

This will be the first time that Sarina Wiegman’s side have faced Ghana, who are unbeaten in seven games since a loss to South Africa in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations this summer.

Pre-match thoughts from Sarina Wiegman

England manager Sarina Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We have never played Ghana. We talk a lot about when we play the African countries and of course they have their different styles of play, and different tweaks in how they want to play, but you often see a lot of speed and physicality.

"Ghana also have a clear structure of how they want to play. In moments they want to play a possession game but they also want to be direct. That is what we want to force them to do – not to give them time to play.

"They also have some rotations if they have opportunities so let’s see how that goes. It’s good to have that challenge because we want that going into the next stage.”

Beever-Jones starts tonight

Aggie Beever-Jones starts as the main forward this evening and is looking forward to impressing.

“Playing for England is one of the greatest honours,” she said ahead of the match.

“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.”

Mike Jones2 December 2025 18:05

England vs Ghana

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 (32 wins, seven draws), since a 2-0 loss to Germany in 1984.

They have won each of their last 12 such games by an aggregate score of 65-1.

Mike Jones2 December 2025 17:45

2025 has been incredible for the Lionesses

“It has been an incredible year again with the journey,” Wiegman said when asked to sum up the year for England.

“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, connecting with the fans.”

(Adam Davy/PA Wire)

Mike Jones2 December 2025 17:39

Wiegman on England's injuries

“Not everyone is available,” Sarina Wiegman said in an update on the fitness of the squad.

“Unfortunately, Grace Fisk picked up a small injury, so she will not be available.

“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 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.”