England Women’s World Cup LIVE: Sarina Wiegman confirms new Lionesses captain after announcing squad

Beth Mead has missed out on England’s World Cup squad after running out of time in her recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, but Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze have both been selected in Sarina Wiegman’s 23-player group despite recent fitness concerns.

Bethany England has been rewarded for her excellent form since joining Tottenham Hotspur, where the striker scored 12 goals in as many Women’s Super League appearances, with a recall, but among the surprise omissions were Manchester United defender Maya Le Tissier - who has been named on the standby list.

Mead, who won the golden boot and was named player of the tournament as England won the Euros on home soil last summer, has been out since November and the tournament in Australia and New Zealand has come too soon for the forward with England’s opening game against Haiti less than eight weeks away.

Full squad here:

While England’s World Cup squad was largely as expected, Sarina Wiegman saved room for a rare decision that seemed to go against the public opinion. It wasn’t the absence of Beth Mead, who simply ran out of time to recover for the World Cup, or the recall of Bethany England, who left Wiegman with no other choice after her goalscoring form since joining Tottenham. The inclusion of Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze, despite recent injury concerns, was welcomed: the Lionesses will need their experience in Australia, especially after losing Leah Williamson.

Instead, the divisive selection call was over a player with just two England caps to her name. At 21, Maya Le Tissier would have perhaps set her sights on making a World Cup stand-by list just a few months ago, but after her excellent season with Manchester United there was disbelief when Wiegman’s squad was announced and she was not among the seven defenders included.

“We had to make some hard decisions,” Wiegman explained, and Le Tissier appeared to be the toughest. She has made Wiegman’s previous two squads, for February’s Arnold Clark Cup and for April’s matches against Brazil and Australia, and impressed for United as they reached the FA Cup final and pushed Chelsea all the way in the Women’s Super League title race. Le Tissier shares some abilities with Williamson as a ball-playing centre-back, but there was also a key difference in Wiegman’s eyes.

In total, 16 of the squad of 23 were involved and won Euro 2022 last summer while Niamh Charles, Laura Coombs, Lauren James, Esme Morgan, Katie Robinson and Katie Zelem will all be playing at their first major tournament. England captain Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead will all miss out on the finals because of injuries.

Sarina Wiegman has named her World Cup squad with 23 Lionesses now confirmed to be on the plane - and a selection of big names missing out.

There were already set to be more than one huge star missing, with Fran Kirby and captain Leah Williamson both injured and set to watch on over summer as the England women’s team look to add the game’s biggest trophy to the one they won at Euro 2022 last summer.

But as ever, where big calls have to be made, the manager must always leave some out - here are the key unfortunate few who have missed the call this time around.

Wiegman is asked about a potential lack of diversity in the England squad: “I undertsand people look at it like that and I hope it’ll change but it won’t change overnight. I know the FA is doing lots to discover more talent to get everyone who wants to play football having access, no matter where they are from or their background.”

Sarina Wiegman explained leaving Maya Le Tissier on the standby list: “She was really close. That was a hard call. All the defenders we had to think about. We also see her little bit more as a right full-back, she plays for her club as centre-back.”

Jess Park and Emily Ramsey are also on the list.

In the absence of Leah Williamson there was one big choice for Wiegman to make: who would wear the armband?

Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright were thought to be the two big candidates and it’s the latter who gets the nod from Sarina Wiegman.

“I haven’t told her she will be captain. We just talked about where she’s at in her rehab. We have a couple of weeks and she’ll be fine, she’ll be cool,” the manager said.

On being without key faces: “We want to be at our best. We’re a little bit in transition with changes in the team but I still think we’re really good. We just have to be at our best and see how far we get, we’re in a really good place.”

On calls to certain players: “Everyone you call is a nice message when it’s a positive one! We had some players who were very anxious about this moment.”

On Katie Robinson: “She has made a difference at Brighton, some decisive games. In our camp she has shown her quality too.”

On the new faces: “At some point it’s always the first time. We try to focus on the football, we know it’s going to be a big event. Just try to prepare them as well as possible - what’s your task?”

On no TV broadcast deal: “I’m not worried about it. Fifa have to solve it before the tournament starts. How it’s been covered in England since I came has been really good.”

Beth Mead has missed out on England’s World Cup squad after running out of time in her recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, but Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze have both been selected in Sarina Wiegman’s 23-player group despite recent fitness concerns.

Bethany England has been rewarded for her excellent form since joining Tottenham Hotspur, where the striker scored 12 goals in as many Women’s Super League appearances, with a recall, but among the surprise omissions were Manchester United defender Maya Le Tissier - who has been named on the standby list.

Full squad:

Sarina Wiegman has named her World Cup squad with 23 Lionesses now confirmed to be on the plane - and a selection of big names missing out.

There were already set to be more than one huge star missing, with Fran Kirby and captain Leah Williamson both injured and set to watch on over summer as the England women’s team look to add the game’s biggest trophy to the one they won at Euro 2022 last summer.

But as ever, where big calls have to be made, the manager must always leave some out - here are the key unfortunate few who have missed the call this time around.