U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM SCHEDULED TO FACE 2022 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS ENGLAND AT FAMED WEMBLEY STADIUM ON FRIDAY, OCT. 7
Game Subject to England Securing FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualification in September; Match in London Would Be First of Two Games in Europe for the USA During October FIFA Window
CHICAGO (August 2, 2022) – The U.S. Women’s National Team is scheduled to face 2022 European Champions England on the evening of Friday, Oct. 7 at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London. The kickoff time is to be confirmed and the match will be broadcast on FS1.
England won the 2022 UEFA Women’s EURO in historic fashion at Wembley Stadium on July 31, defeating Germany, 2-1, in overtime on a goal from forward Chloe Kelly in front of a record-setting crowd of 87,192 fans.
The USA-England match is subject to England securing its FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification during the September international window. The Lionesses need to earn a point away against nearest group rivals Austria on Saturday, September 3 or, failing that, a victory at home over Luxembourg on Tuesday, September 6, to confirm their spot in Australia and New Zealand next summer. England are currently five points ahead of Austria, the only other team that can still top Group D to qualify directly for the 2023 World Cup, with two matches remaining for both nations.
This will be the USWNT’s first visit to Wembley Stadium since the gold medal match at the 2012 Olympic Games, a 2-1 victory for the USA over Japan, and the first-ever meeting between the United States and England Women’s National Teams at London’s green cathedral of soccer.
The England women played Germany at Wembley in 2014 and drew 45,619 fans. Those two teams played again in a friendly at Wembley in 2019 and drew 77,768 fans. The crowd at Sunday’s European Final, which was the largest to watch a match in the history of the European Championships, men or women, also set a record for the most spectators to watch a women’s game in England, surpassing the previous crowd of 80,203 which attended the USWNT’s gold medal victory at the 2012 Olympics. That game marked the second largest crowd ever to watch the USWNT play anywhere in the world.
“To get a chance to play the European champions in London at Wembley is an opportunity that doesn’t come around very often, so we’re all thankful that the match could be arranged, and we’ll be hoping that England finish their qualifying campaign in September,” said U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “This is exactly the kind of match we need at exactly the right time in our World Cup preparations so we can test ourselves against a very talented England team. I saw England play live at the Euros, and I’m looking forward to an amazing atmosphere at Wembley and another big event for women’s soccer on Oct. 7.”
With just a month between the September European World Cup qualifiers and the proposed date for USA-England, the England Football Association made the decision to announce the match now to help fans from across the England, and the world, have as much notice as possible to make travel plans.
The USWNT will play another match in Europe following the England game with an opponent and venue to be confirmed soon.
Should England instead be involved in the two-leg World Cup playoffs in October, anyone with a ticket for the match against the USA would be entitled to a refund and given the opportunity to buy a ticket for England’s home playoff match with time and venue to be confirmed in September. The England FA and the U.S. Soccer Federation would then work to agree a new date for the two teams to meet in future.
The USA recently qualified for both the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics via its five-game run of wins at the Concacaf W Championship in Mexico that concluded with a 1-0 victory over Canada in the championship game on July 18.
TICKETS
Tickets will go on sale today (Tuesday, August 2) to My England Football members with fans able to sign-up and register for free and will be on general sale tomorrow (Wednesday, August 3) starting at 9 a.m. ET / 2 p.m. London time. Tickets are priced at £5 for fans Under-16, £10 for over 65s and students, and from £10 for adults. Discounts are also available for group bookings. To purchase tickets, visit thefa.com/tickets.
Additional Notes:
- The USA and England most recently met at the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, a 2-0 U.S. victory at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla., on goals from Christen Press and Carli Lloyd.
- The most recent meeting before that was of course the epic semifinal clash at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a 2-1 U.S. victory in Lyon, France on goals from Christen Press and Alex Morgan, sandwiched around a score from England star forward Ellen White.
- The USA and England have met 18 times, but just twice in England. Those games were played in 2011, a 2-1 England victory at Leyton Orient in London, and in 2015, a 1-0 U.S. win at MK Dons in Milton Keynes, outside of London. The capacity of both venues combined would not fill Wembley Stadium even halfway.
- This will be the first meeting between the USA and England with former University of North Carolina player Sarina Wiegman, who is two-time European champion head coach (2017 with the Netherlands and 2022 with England), at the helm of the Lionesses.
- During England’s triumphant run through the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, it beat Austria, 1-0, Norway 8-0, and Northern Ireland, 5-0, in group play. England then knocked out Spain, 2-1, in the quarterfinal with an epic comeback and crushed Sweden, 4-0, in the semifinal before setting up the championship clash with the Germans. England’s 22 goals over the six games gave them a remarkable 3.6 goals per game at the Euros.
- The 87,192 fans at Wembley Stadium for the UEFA Women’s EURO Final marked the second-largest crowd in history to watch a women’s international match, behind only the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which drew 90,185.
