England take on South Africa in an international friendly as they continue their preparations for Euro 2025 next summer. The Lionesses were beaten 4-3 by Germany in a shock result on Friday night and hope to bounce back this evening.
Sarina Wiegman’s side are hoping to defend the European Championship title they won in 2022 and are fine-tuning their team and tactics with just under a year to go until the next tournament.
South Africa are a different side to Germany and reached the last-16 of the World Cup last year so they’re a dangerous team and England will need to be wary. This is the first meeting between the two sides since 2010 and Wiegman hopes it can be a ‘learning moment’ for her players.
“I think this is a great opportunity to play South Africa, it’ll be another learning moment for us, and how we can approach that,” Wiegman said. “We want to try out things, we want the players to see connections and so many games coming after the camp.”
Follow all the action with our live blog below:
England vs South Africa LIVE
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England take on South Africa at the CBS Arena with kick off at 7.45pm
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Lionesses looking to bounce back after 4-3 defeat to Germany
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Sarina Wiegman says she will make changes from Friday’s game
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England XI: Earps; Le Tissier, Williamson, Greenwood, Morgan; Stanway, Clinton, Park; Mead, Naz, Kelly
England team changes
18:37 , Mike Jones
Sarina Wiegman promised changes and she has made eight of them from the team that line-up against Germany. Only Leah Williamson, Georgia Stanway and Beth Mead keep their places from that match.
In comes Mary Earps replacing Hannah Hampton in goal.
Maya Le Tissier, Alex Greenwood and Esme Morgan join the back line ahead of Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright and Jess Carter while in midfield Jess Park and Grace Clinton take the places of Keira Walsh and Ella Toone.
In the forward line, Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp drop out with Jessica Naz and Chloe Kelly starting.
England line-up to face South Africa
18:31 , Mike Jones
England XI: England XI: Earps; Le Tissier, Williamson, Greenwood, Morgan; Stanway, Clinton, Park; Mead, Naz, Kelly
Sarina Wiegman on England’s performance against Germany
18:25 , Mike Jones
“We gave the ball away too often and that resulted in too many turnovers,” said the Lionesses’ coach Sarina Wiegman when assessing her team’s performance against Germany.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference yesterday she added: “The trigger moments in our press also need to be worked on. We have four friendly games this year, we got lots of information from the first one and we will go out to try and win again tomorrow.
“You will see some changes to the team tomorrow.”
‘South Africa a physical team’ says Wiegman
18:20 , Mike Jones
At her pre-match press conference Sarina Wiegman explained what she is expecting from tonight’s encounter with South Africa.
She said: “We are expecting a very physical team, athletic team. They are unpredictable and have a lot of speed. We wanted to have different styles of play against us and we are later on our journey so can we play our game and stay out of those duels?
“Looking at the bigger picture, we are playing better opponents in the Nations League and in these matches so, while we don’t want to concede goals, it can happen.
“We have to question how we’re keeping the ball, how we’re pressing, and make sure we get our tactics right.”
Complacent England pay the price as Germany embarrass Lionesses at Wembley
18:15 , Mike Jones
Perhaps the only positive for England is there can be no avoiding the reality now. For the Lionesses, there was no repeat of their glorious victory over Germany at Wembley. Instead, a rematch of the Euro 2022 final served up a warning ahead of England’s European Championship defence next summer.
The Lionesses were complacent and error-strewn as a refreshed, reshaped Germany team repeatedly tore through them. Had it not been for Germany’s own calamitous defending, the scoreline could have been even more of an embarrassment.
England conceding four at home should be enough as it is. That this was a friendly does not hide the fact it was a bad night for Sarina Wiegman, her worst as England manager, but there is an argument that a wake-up call like this was needed ahead of Euro 2025. If the manager has been accused of being too loyal to too many of her players who won the Euros and reached the World Cup final, there is an even greater case to finally change her first-choice team. Wiegman insisted she would not “make changes for the sake of it” – but there are too many starting for England who are living off their reputations, at least on current form.
Complacent England pay the price as Germany embarrass Lionesses at Wembley
Wiegman on facing South Africa
18:10 , Mike Jones
“I think this is a great opportunity to play South Africa, it’ll be another learning moment for us, and how we can approach that,” Sarina Wiegman said.
“You will see different faces tomorrow. You will see changes, that’s what we said, we want to try out things, we want the players to see connections and so many games coming after the camp.”
Possible England XI
18:05 , Mike Jones
Earps; Le Tissier, Wubben-Moy, Greenwood, Carter; Stanway, Clinton, Park; Beever-Jones, Russo, Hemp
What is the team news?
18:00 , Mike Jones
Sarina Wiegman has confirmed that she will see “different faces” in her England team. Mary Earps could return in goal and Maya Le Tissier, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Alex Greenwood are candidates to come into the defence in place of captain Leah Williamson, who had a difficult night against Germany.
Georgia Stanway appeared alongside Sarina Wiegman in her pre-match press conference so could start in midfield but either Grace Clinton and Jess Park could start alongside her, while Fran Kirby is available after missing the Germany match with an injury.
Aggie Beever-Jones and Jess Naz could feature in attack should Wiegman make changes to her forwards, but Lauren James is not available after missing out on the squad due to injury.
How can I watch it?
17:55 , Mike Jones
The matchc will be shown on ITV 4, with coverage underway from 7pm.
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When is England vs South Africa?
17:50 , Mike Jones
The match will kick off at 7:45pm BST on Tuesday 29 October at the CBS Arena in Coventry.
England vs South Africa
17:45 , Mike Jones
England host South Africa in an international friendly as the Lionesses look to bounce back from a humbling defeat to Germany.
Sarina Wiegman’s side were beaten 4-3 at Wembley in a shock result, but it could have been worse after Germany scored three times inside the half hour.
It was a wake-up call for England ahead of their European Championship defence next summer, and Wiegman has confirmed she will make changes to her team tonight.
South Africa will be a different test and this is the first time the teams have met since 2010. The Banyana-Banyana reached the last-16 of the World Cup last year.
Good evening!
16:28 , Mike Jones
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s clash between England and South Africa.
Though this game is only an international friendly the Lionesses will want to impress and get back to winning ways after slipping to a 4-3 defeat against Germany last Friday.
Sarina Wiegman’s side are preparing for their European Championship defence and the manager has primised changes in personnel for tonight’s outing.
The match is being played at the CBS Arena in Coventry and we’ll bring you all the team news, line-ups and updates throughout the night. Stick with us as we build up to kick off at 7.45pm.
