England kick off their Women’s World Cup 2023 campaign on Saturday vs Haiti.
But with stars like Beth Mead, Leah Williamson and Fran Kirby all out through injury, the Lionesses have lost their tag as favourites for World Cup 2023. The pesky USA are instead the nation expected to lift the trophy come the final in Sydney on August 20.
England women’s team can still do it, though, at least that’s according to FourFourTwo’s Adam Clery, who describes his reasoning in the video above.
Why England can win the Women’s World Cup 2023
England can still win the Women’s World Cup 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Despite missing five of the starting line-up that won the Euros last summer (Ellen White has retired, the aforementioned trio of Mead, Williamson and Kirby are injured and Rachel Daly proved she’s more of a striker than a left-back by becoming the WSL top-scorer last season) not to mention the fact Millie Bright has been injured for the past couple of months, there are still plenty of solutions available to England.
Alessia Russo, Ella Toone, Chloe Kelly and Lauren James are all fighting to come into the team, with Daly also in contention for a starting berth upfront.
Alex Greenwood is also more than capable of performing to a high standard slotting in in central defence for England at the World Cup, with Jess Carter and Niamh Charles strong options at left-back.
“It’s very easy to label England as being in the midst of several player crises, but they are one of the few teams in the world – probably the only team in the world – who could cope with multiple, concurrent crises,” Clery suggests.
“And if that can’t get you excited about an international football tournament, I don’t know what will.”
Indeed, the two players who scored for England in their Euro 2022 final win against Germany (Kelly and Toone) aren’t even guaranteed to start in Australia and New Zealand, highlighting the strength in depth and why England are certainly more than capable of going all the way once again.
Alessia Russo could be key for England at the Women’s World Cup, but there’s no guarantee she’ll start (Image credit: Getty Images)
More England stories ahead of the Women’s World Cup 2023
Manager Sarina Wiegman implemented some bonding methods for the England team that proved pivotal in the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 success.
Georgia Stanway acknowledges that the Lionesses are a different animal compared to last year, suggesting “the dynamic has changed but we’re still an unbelievable squad”.
Meanwhile, FFT columnist Jules Breach says that England can still win the World Cup, despite the loss of experience in the side.
We’ve also compiled everything you need to know ahead of the World Cup in a special tournament hub.
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