There was plenty to learn from the European champions' April camp, which produced two extremely contrasting results against the same opponent
Four days is a long time in football – or apparently so, given that was the time between England's 5-0 demotion of Belgium in Bristol and a dismal 3-2 defeat to the same opponent in Leuven. That second scoreline flattered the Lionesses, too, whose defending was so dreadful on Tuesday night that they were 3-0 down with less than half an hour played.
After so many positives in the Friday fixture – which produced five different goal-scorers, a comfortable clean sheet and first senior international strikes for both Keira Walsh, winning her 83rd cap, and Aggie Beever-Jones, racking up just her fourth – the rematch changed the entire reflection of this international window for England.
Having sat in pole position in their Nations League group, the Lionesses have now slipped to second and put unnecessary pressure on their final two games, which will come shortly after the club season in Europe concludes. First, they host a Portugal side that held them to a 1-1 draw in February, then they travel to Spain to take on the world champions. If they want to be in the best possible position come the 2027 Women's World Cup draw, and have a shot at actually winning the Nations League itself, positive results are vital. To get them, Sarina Wiegman's side will have to be much better than they were in Belgium, and much more like they were at home.
Fortunately, despite the doom and gloom this camp ended on, there were some real positives for the England boss to take out of these two games. Most of those, of course, came from the 5-0 victory, but there were also a couple in defeat, especially as a teenage talent boldly announced herself as a star for the future – and possibly a late contender for Wiegman's squad for this summer's European Championships.
GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from the Lionesses' April camp…
AFPLOSER: Sarina Wiegman
Wiegman came into this camp with several key players missing. All of Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood and Georgia Stanway are sidelined after having knee surgeries, with the latter pair leaving England limited at left-back and in the deeper midfield roles in particular. However, that list of absentees only grew over the course of the past few days.
On Friday, just before the first game against Belgium, the in-form Chloe Kelly had to withdraw from the squad. At the halfway point of that match, Lauren James limped off with a hamstring issue that would force her to miss Tuesday's game in Leuven. A day later, Wiegman lost star striker Alessia Russo as well, who returned to Arsenal after picking up a problem on Friday.
It left England limited in Belgium as they succumbed to a 3-2 defeat – but the greater concern will be if any of this trio are out for longer than just a game or two. The Euros are just three months away and Wiegman will absolutely not want to be sweating on the fitness of any more key players.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesWINNER: Hannah Hampton
It felt significant that, after starting Hannah Hampton in Friday's win over Belgium, Wiegman stuck with the Chelsea shot-stopper for the third game in a row on Tuesday. Prior to this camp, she and Mary Earps had almost equally alternated reps in between the sticks since the start of 2024, Hampton playing eight of 14 games and Earps the other six. However, that scale feels like it has slowly, and subtly, been tilting in favour of the 24-year-old and, this week, Wiegman confirmed as much.
Asked outright by if Hampton was now her No.1 goalkeeper, Wiegman replied: "At this moment, she’s a little bit ahead. We have two world-class goalkeepers so it’s been a really hard decision. But at this moment, Hannah is a little bit ahead."
It was a surprise to hear her say as much but also, in a way, not surprising. After all, Hampton has started to accrue more opportunities and she's regularly taken them, even if she might've hoped to have done a little better with some of the goals on Tuesday. With just three months to go until the Euros, the Chelsea star is in pole position to start for the defending champions.
Getty ImagesLOSER: Mary Earps
Where does that leave Earps, then? There are just two more competitive fixtures before the Euros begins, plus any pre-tournament friendlies that the Lionesses partake in. If Hampton is to be Wiegman's No.1, one would imagine she will get the majority of the game time as July gets closer and closer. And this is the goalkeeper position we're talking about. It's not a role where Earps can just take opportunities to shine from the bench.
That said, it'd be a real shock if the Paris Saint-Germain star doesn't get another look-in before the Euros comes around. Wiegman's comments were by no means definitive on the No.1 shirt, with Hampton just ahead in the race. "If she gets a sniff back in that goal, she'll [do] everything to keep it," Ian Wright said of Earps on , and he's right. The 32-year-old has been an incredible servant under Wiegman and has put in some cracking performances for England, with her clean sheet against the United States one very recent, and very good, example. She is going to be absolutely chomping at the bit to take whatever chances she gets – the only issue is that there might not be many left at this point.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Beth Mead
When England won the Euros back in 2022, Beth Mead was the star of the show. Six goals and five assists in just six games saw her scoop up the individual accolades, both from the tournament and in the months that followed. However, going into the Lionesses' defence of that title, she finds herself in fierce competition for a place in Wiegman's starting XI.
The wide areas in this England squad are stacked. Hemp, James, Kelly and Beever-Jones have been battling for those spots throughout the season, with Jess Park, Fran Kirby and Grace Clinton among the other names who can, and have, played there. But while Hemp and Kelly missed this camp due to injuries, and James dropped out midway through, Mead started both games and was among England's most impressive performers on each occasion.
On Friday, the Arsenal forward linked up exceptionally well with Lucy Bronze to absolutely destroy Belgium down their left-hand side, with her unlucky to leave that game with just one assist and no goal. In Leuven, things didn't go to plan for the Lionesses in the same way, but Mead still managed to stand out as one of their better players. It all amounted to a good week in her own personal charge to be in Wiegman's line-up come that opening game at the Euros.