#Lionesses: World Cup Qualifier against Northern Ireland at Wembley | OneFootball

Photo: The FA.

England are to return to Wembley Stadium connected by EE for a 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland.

The match, on Saturday 23 October (5.15pm kick-off), will be the first competitive fixture for the Lionesses at the national stadium since it reopened in 2007. Wembley has staged two previous England international matches against Germany in November 2014 and November 2019.

Tickets will go on sale exclusively to England Supporters Travel Club and My England Football members from midday on Friday 30 July before general sale begins from midday on Thursday 5 August.

The Lionesses last met Northern Ireland at St. George’s Park back in February with Ellen White claiming a hat-trick and Ella Toone scoring on her debut in the 6-0 win.

The two countries could also meet at next summer’s UEFA Women’s EURO in England with the draw for the finals to take place in Manchester on 28 October.

Baroness Sue Campbell, The FA’s director of women’s football, said: “Having the chance for our England team to play again at Wembley in a competitive fixture is so important. From a performance point of view, it will give us the chance to get close to a big-game occasion of the kind we hope our squad will experience at next summer’s home UEFA EURO.

“Having had such a challenging 18 months, the day will mean so much to our players and of course we hope the chance to play in front of so many fans will be something truly special. We have missed the supporters and let’s hope that things are heading in the right direction on that front.

“We want Wembley to feel like home for our England team and we want the players to be able to thrive when they run out to play. We are at the start of an exciting season and with Sarina Wiegman coming in as head coach, there is every reason for us to be upbeat for the months ahead.”

Under Wiegman, England will return to action when World Cup qualifying begins on Friday 17 September at home to North Macedonia, with the venue still to be confirmed, before travelling to Luxembourg four days later. October’s camp will conclude with a trip to Latvia three days after the Northern Ireland fixture.

November will then see the year’s action conclude with two home qualifiers against Austria and Latvia on 27 and 30 November respectively, with the venues for those matches also yet to be confirmed.

The Lionesses last visit to Wembley came in November 2019 when a late German winner saw the visitors win 2-1 in front of an England women record crowd for a home international of 77,768.

The overall record for a women’s game on English soil is the 80,023 that saw United States defeat Japan 2-1 to claim gold at London 2012.

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