Lacklustre Lionesses face defeat to Brazil in first of homecoming friendlies
Ten-man Brazil thwarted a clueless England side upon their return home from a victorious Euro-winning campaign this summer. The Lionesses took on the Copa América winners at home at the Etihad and were unable to find the answers to a resilient Brazilian defence.
The Lionesses played on home soil on Saturday for the first time since becoming back-to-back European Champions this summer. Sarina Wiegman named a starting XI much different from that which she put out in the Euros Final, with key players Williamson, James, Hemp, and Hampton, who were all vital to the summer’s successful campaign, out with injury. Maya Le Tissier made her first appearance for England since May 2025 at right back, while Keira Walsh captained the side, and Khiara Keating made history by becoming the first black goalkeeper to play for the Lionesses.
England were wasteful, and despite playing against ten players for over 70 minutes, they were unable to break down a stubborn Brazilian defence
England were very quickly put to the test, with Brazil starting on the front foot – momentum that saw them open the scoring in the 9th minute as Dudinha played through Bia Zaneratto, who made no mistake in firing into the bottom corner. Things went from bad to worse when Ella Toone was dispossessed and the two combined once again to put Brazil 0-2 up inside 18 minutes, this time with Bia Zaneratto feeding Dudinha, whose outside of the boot finish went in off the near post. England were given an opportunity to claw their way back into the game after Brazil captain Angelina saw a red card for pulling down Toone, who was through on goal in the 21st minute. However, Alex Greenwood’s subsequent free kick rattled the crossbar. The best chance of the match for England then fell to Jess Carter, who was unmarked to score the rebound from the free kick, but was unable to get her header on target and another chance went begging for England. A foul on Beth Mead early in the second half ignited hope as England were awarded a penalty, which Georgia Stanway dispatched coolly, but this wasn’t enough to kick-start a comeback as the Lionesses fell to a 1-2 defeat.
Overall, England were wasteful, and despite playing against ten players for over 70 minutes, they were unable to break down a stubborn Brazilian defence. Lessons will be learnt for Sarina Wiegman’s side, who looked bleak and uninspiring over the 90 minutes. Post-match, she commented that the biggest areas for her team to work on are ‘to create even more in the final third and getting the final detail right in execution and decision making’.
With so many absentees, a shuffled starting line-up, and a needless Brazil red card, it may be hard to take many lessons from the match
The Lionesses were able to wrong their rights with a much improved 3-0 win over Australia on Tuesday. Aggie Beever Jones was a bright spark who opened the scoring, followed by a goal from Lucy Bronze on her 142nd cap and another composed Stanway penalty that sealed the victory. Yet another red card for the opposition early into the match, along with a major injury concern for Michelle Agyemang, tainted the result. Despite a comfortable win, their poor performance against Brazil, who rank 4th in the world compared to Australia’s 15th, exposed many problems for this team to overcome.
A lot of talk surrounding Wiegman’s side has been about becoming a ‘New England’. With so many absentees, a shuffled starting line-up, and a needless Brazil red card, it may be hard to take many lessons from the match. However, one thing is for certain: this New England must perform significantly better than they did on Saturday if they want to bring their European pedigree to the world stage in 2027.
Comments