England’s players will only have two weeks off this summer because of the Lionesses’ training camps and Qualifiers for the 2025 European Championship.
Coach Sarina Wiegman has named a 24-player squad to cover both international windows, including recovery Millie Bright, Chelsea centre-back for the first time in 2024, in addition to four players who will be on standby.
The reigning European champions face France in a double header on Friday, May 31 (home) and Tuesday, June 4 (away), and then have two weeks off to rest and recover, before resuming training on June 19th.
They will then train together – but have weekends off – until facing the Republic of Ireland in Norwich on Friday 12 July, and finish the qualifying campaign away in Sweden on Thursday, July 16th.
This summer’s timing, for the entire international women’s football calendar, has been extremely controversial, with a wide range of players from different countries criticizing the lack of a full off-season break due to the new addition of the July fixture window. Arsenal and England’s Leah Williamson is among those who have passionately labeled the “unsustainable” calendarwhile former Ballon d’Or-winning Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg also lamented the players’ lack of rest throughout the 12-month calendar.
Wiegman, who has said repeatedly that the scheduling issue must be addressed, faced a difficult balance in deciding how much time off to give his players after facing France in early June: either give them a longer rest but run the risk players not being fit to play when they face the Republic of Ireland in July, or give them a shorter break but risk exhausting players mentally and physically with another full summer of training camps. England will hope to have found a balance, with a two-week window.
The squad named on Tuesday is for both sets of qualifiers to enlighten players – including those who were not selected – about their summer plans.
Young Chelsea striker Aggie Beever-Jones has been included, while Manchester United defender Maya Le Tissier, Liverpool midfielder Missy Bo Kearns, Tottenham Hotspur winger Jess Naz and Southampton goalkeeper Kayla Rendell are on standby.
In between the two official international windows, England will hold a three-day training camp at St George’s Park from June 19-21 before a five-day training camp at the same venue from June 24-28 , and then an overseas training camp in the Netherlands from July 1-5, which will include a behind-closed-doors friendly against the Netherlands.
“This is another important summer in achieving our goal of qualifying for the Euros,” said Wiegman. “After an intense season, we wanted to give players clarity and help them prepare in the best possible way for the FIFA windows, with the balance between performance and well-being as a priority.
“We have had good conversations with the clubs and are grateful for their cooperation and support in helping the players to be fresh, fit and ready for two international matches at the highest level.
“Naming a group of 28 players gives us different options across the four games and is an opportunity for some new faces to impress and build new connections.”
