England will look to build on their opening-round win against Haiti when Sarina Wiegman and her Lionesses face fellow European side Denmark on Friday morning in the UK.
The sides are neck and neck in Group D after Lars Søndegaard’s side also recorded a 1-0 win in their opening game against China thanks to a 90th-minute winner from PSG’s Amalie Vangsgaard.
Wiegman will be looking for an improvement on her team’s performance against Haiti with a game against a nation ranked 13th in the world, before facing China, ranked one place lower, in the team’s final group game in Adelaide next week.
Who do England play next at the Women's World Cup 2023?
Denmark are up next for England.
Denmark will provide solid opposition for England. The Euro 2017 finalists can call on former Chelsea superstar and new Bayern Munich signing Pernille Harder, while Vangsgaard and new Real Madrid striker Signe Bruun also bring plenty of top-level signings.
There will be plenty of familiar names in the Denmark side for fans of the WSL, with seven of their squad currently playing in England, and a win for the Lionesses would all but confirm a place in the second round ahead of facing China.
Top spot though may not mean a huge amount for England, with the Group D winners set for a tough run to the final in Sydney which will start with the runners-up of Group B, which could be OIympic champions Canada should they bounce back from their opening game draw against Nigeria.
Canada and England drew 0-0 in a warm-up friendly and given England are struggling to score, facing one of the most defensively solid sides in the world would be a tough second round clash for the Lionesses.
If it does work out that way, a repeat of the Euro 2022 final against Germany would likely await in the quarter-finals, and they started in ominous fashion with a dominant 6-0 win against Morocco earlier this week.
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Alex Greenwood has told FFT that she believes the development in the Lionesses recently is more mentality-focused than ability-based, while Christine Sinclair has spoken of her longevity. Intriguingly, Canada women’s head coach comes from a small town in County Durham – just like the men's – and FFT met Bev Priestman ahead of the tournament.
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