Spain v England Nations League: Lionesses ‘one of most adaptive teams’, says Lucy Bronze


Spain beat England 1-0 in the 2023 World Cup final, but England reversed that scoreline to win the last match between the sides, at Wembley in February.

And they go into Tuesday’s game with good momentum after an impressive display in their 6-0 win over Portugal on Friday.

Aggie Beever-Jones caught the eye with her hat-trick but will face competition for a starting place with Arsenal striker Alessia Russo returning from injury.

Manager Sarina Wiegman has a strong squad to choose from with Ella Toone also back from injury, as well as Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood continuing their returns to full fitness.

Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton will miss out through suspension.

“There are top players coming back and doing well this season. Both teams are in similar positions going into the [Euros],” said Bronze, referring to Euro 2025, which kicks off on 2 July in Switzerland.

“You are looking at maybe England, Spain, Germany and France – there are probably a handful of teams who are in the same position.

“But we saw in the last Euros and in the World Cup that there were close games to reach the final. We can outperform any team but equally so can those other teams.”

It is the last match before Wiegman names her 23-player squad for the Euros on Thursday, 5 June and she admits she is “pretty close” to making a decision.

“You still want to go to the game [on Tuesday] and make the final decisions but we are pretty close,” said Wiegman.

“Of course that’s hard, because you come close to squad selection and at the same time, we’re just playing a game again.

“Short-term, we’re trying to win that game, and a little longer-term, it’s preparation for the Euros, which, of course, is the bigger picture.”



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