Sarina Wiegman speaks to ITV. “That’s the collaboration I want to see tonight… a few small changes… I want to see both goalkeepers, I don’t want to choose now… Last time at Wembley Hannah Hampton was in goal and now Mary Earps gets her chance …Emma Hayes is doing a great job over there…you really want to beat each other…she’s going to make tweaks, so we have to be sharp.”

Hayes smiled broadly every nanosecond of this interview. She’s clearly enjoying her new role immensely, which shouldn’t be a surprise given her current 92 percent success rate. In fact, the only time she wasn’t caught wearing a sunny grin was when, for PR purposes, ITV showed footage of her drinking a pint in a pub in Camden and then grimacing earlier this week , as she took a sip of it. To be fair, she’s not a fan of beer, and in any case the beer looked a bit bland.

Emma Hayes speaks to ITV in a relaxed and cheerful manner. “It’s great to be back… I feel a bit bad always talking about how happy I am! …I had to slow down…playing against different opponents in different stages, it feels new and exciting…you feel a bit like a grandparent! …they come to camp and are all happy to see you…you give them the best time ever…hopefully you win a few medals…it’s a whole different way to train…life is so short and I want a good time “I want to be the best coach I can be… I was put on this earth to do my best for women’s football.”

England are making four changes to their starting XI following their underwhelming 2-1 win over South Africa last month. Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Keira Walsh and Alessia Russo take the places of Esme Morgan, Grace Clinton and Chloe Kelly, who drop to the bench, as well as Maya Le Tissier, who is missing after suffering a concussion at Manchester United last weekend had contracted.

Seven of today’s USWNT starters played when these teams last met at Wembley in 2022. Alyssa Naeher, Naomi Girma, Emily Fox, Sam Coffey, Rose Lavelle, Alyssa Thompson and captain Lindsey Horan were all on the wrong end of England’s 2-1 win on the day. Naeher, Horan and Lavelle are the only players remaining from the USA’s 2-1 victory in the 2019 World Cup semifinals. The triple espresso front of Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson – Rodman was nicknamed live on NBC days before they won Olympic gold – are all out with injuries.

The teams

preamble