England 2023 Women’s World Cup squad: Beth Mead out, Beth England in
Euro 2022 top scorer Beth Mead has been left out of England’s squad for the Women’s World Cup after losing her race to be fit for this year’s tournament.
Mead joins Lionesses captain Leah Williamson and forward Fran Kirby in missing the competition in Australia and New Zealand because of long-term injury.
Defenders Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze are in Sarina Wiegman’s party despite currently being sidelined, while striker Beth England’s prolific end to the season has earned her a recall.
“I have huge belief in this squad and we’re very fortunate to be selecting a fantastic group of players to travel to Australia,” said Wiegman.
“We know we will face tough challenges from strong teams, and we will have to be competitive from the first match on 22 July. We will do everything to be at our very best again this summer.
“It is important the players get some well-deserved time to rest and recover over the next few weeks before we start the final preparations to get them ready.
“We learned a lot of positive lessons about how to get the players fit, fresh and ready from the Euro last summer and we know what we have to do to make sure we hit the ground running in the right way when the tournament starts.”
England will head Down Under next month for the Women’s World Cup as one of the favourites to dethrone the USA, having won the European Championship on home soil last summer.
Sixteen of the triumphant Euros squad are in Wiegman’s 23, while Bright, Bronze, Rachel Daly, Mary Earps, Alex Greenwood, Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh were also part of the 2019 World Cup, where England lost in the semi-finals to the USA.
Mead, who scored six goals at Euro 2022, had been a doubt for the World Cup since suffering a cruciate ligament injury in November.
The Arsenal forward is not included on a stand-by list that features defender Maya Le Tissier, forward Jess Park and goalkeeper Emily Ramsey.
Wiegman added: “It’s always tough to leave some players out of the squad, but they know they could still be needed if we have any issues before we start the tournament.”