England were caught out against Brazil at the Etihad Stadium, Georgia Stanway’s penalty not enough to cancel out first-half goals from Bia Zaneratto and Dudinha, but it was far from a performance to worry about.
Shortly after taking a two-goal lead, the visiting team were down to 10, Angelina receiving a straight red for bringing down Ella Toone, but despite a gutsy and fiery battle to the end, Sarina Wiegman’s side couldn’t find the equalising goal.
It was the fourth time in a row that England had conceded first. “We start slow and we make these mistakes,” said Wiegman. “If I knew why, I would have solved it straight away.”
We knew England’s starting XI would look quite different from the team that lifted the Euros trophy for a second time in Basel in July. Leah Williamson remains sidelined with an injury the captain picked up in Switzerland, while Lauren Hemp and Lauren James are also long-term absentees. Williamson’s club replacement at Arsenal, Katie Reid, and Manchester City’s Grace Clinton were forced to withdraw from this camp through injury, while Lotte Wubben-Moy left for home with an illness, Jess Park withdrew under the concussion protocol and Hannah Hampton was not included in the squad to face Brazil because of an elbow injury.
The backline to face Brazil in the Lionesses’ first outing since that historic penalty shootout win over Spain was where most of the changes fell as a result. Khiara Keating was handed a first start in goal, becoming England women’s first black goalkeeper to receive a cap. The Manchester United centre-back Maya Le Tissier deputised for the right-back Lucy Bronze, who is being eased back from the tibia fracture she infamously played on with during the Euros. Meanwhile Esme Morgan and Jess Carter partnered up in the centre of defence and Alex Greenwood was shifted to left-back.
The defence struggled against the Copa América champions in front of a crowd of 37,460, the pace of Ludmilla, Zaneratto and Dudinha particularly troublesome against the slower centre-back pairing.
Ludmilla fired the first warning shot, shooting wide of Keating’s far post in the third minute, and their opening goal came in the ninth. Carter was unable to halt Zaneratto after Morgan was drawn out of position and the forward powered the ball into the bottom corner. The celebrations from the Brazil bench were wild, a testament to the scalp England are viewed as.
The task got greater for the hosts in the 18th minute. Toone lost possession in the middle and the visiting team were away, Dudinha flicking the ball goalwards with the outside of her foot to send it in off a post.
England had their best chance of the half soon after: Greenwood’s free-kick came back off the crossbar and Carter’s follow-up header flew over. This all came after Angelina had been shown a straight red on 21 minutes for knocking over Toone as she broke clear on goal.
“It’s two different stories – before the red card and after the red card,” said Brazil’s manager, Arthur Elias. “The gameplan at 2-0 was very well executed away from home against a great opponent – England, who are two-time European champions. They knew how to carry out what we trained and planned for the game. Of course, after the red card there was resilience and maximum effort. You have to have that in this national team – spirit and dedication.”
England’s fortunes shifted after the break: Mead was caught by Zaneratto as she went to shoot and Stanway scored from the spot.
It was all England after that, as Brazil failed to maintain the intensity of their press and Stanway rattled the bar with the best chance of an equaliser. The Euro 2025 hero Michelle Agyemang was sent on late but, despite intense pressure, England couldn’t find the breakthrough they were looking for.
“It was about the decision-making in the final third and the execution that has to be aligned a little better,” said Wiegman.
No team wants to lose but England have suffered worse and more consequential defeats. “When you go out on to the pitch you always want to win,” said Wiegman. “Yes, it hurts because that’s the environment we’re in but, at the same time, it’s not the Euros or the World Cup. There are no consequences. You can take these opportunities to try out things.”
