England 3-0 Australia: women’s international football friendly – live

9.27pm GMT Suzanne Wrack was at Pride Park and I leave you with her match report. And stay tuned for some reaction from an Australia point of view from Joey Lynch later in the day. Related: Agyemang injury for England deflates Bronze’s birthday celebrations against Matildas Thanks for tuning in with me and join us tomorrow for live updates from the Carabao Cup fourth round. 9.25pm GMT Have to agree with Wiegman that the red card (though deserved) makes it difficult to assess how much England have improved but they started the match much better than they have in previous games. Kendall, who won player of the match, played the full 90 and impressed on her debut. For the first time in a while, England looked assured in midfield and Walsh was not left to fend on her own during transitions. Some regular starters should be concerned the Aston Villa player may displace them. As for Australia, the red card, of course, did Montemurro no favours in assessing where his squad is at before next year’s Asian Cup. One thing is for sure, though. The Matildas need to find some goalscoring threats. Kerr is still clearly finding her full form after such a lengthy period out and they cannot continue to rely on the 32-year-old. They play back-to-back games against New Zealand before they kick off their home Asian Games against the Philippines. 9.19pm GMT Wiegman speaks to ITV. On the game: We wanted to dominate the game and early in the game they had a player sent off. Earlier we had a lesson on how to play aginst 10. We wanted to hurt them. We could have been better on the ball but overall really good. On Kendall’s debut: She did really well. She impressed me and my staff with Aston Villa. She picks up good positions and she reads the game really well. She keeps really simple but that is not always easy. That is why we thought she deserved the start today. She is very young but very powerful and she opens up space for other players. She knows what is happening behind her and also win duels. I am positive and happy for her. On Agyemang’s injury: I haven’t been inside yet. That looked horrible. It doesn’t look good. Not confirmed, but it looks bad. On upcoming games against Ghana and China: We always want to improve. We have opponents with different challenges and styles of play. Let’s see who is available for next camp and hopefully we can take a lot out of it. Because I think we took a lot out of Brazil and today. A little bit of pity they went to 10 so early. When it is a qualifier, I don’t mind! But in a friendly, it would have been nice to see 11 v 11. 9.07pm GMT Beever-Jones speaks to ITV. On Agyemang’s injury: It is never nice when anyone comes off a stretcher, let alone a teammate. I don’t know what she has done but will be praying she will be OK. On her injury and the strap around her leg: I am OK. I didn’t want to come off. It was good they were already down to 10 so it did not impact the game too much. It is a friendly so sometimes you have to see the bigger picture. Just got to wrap up and get some recovery. On scoring for England: I just come here, focus and try to do Sarina what I can do. I was on the wing today, which I haven’t done in a while but I am happy to play anywhere for England. On improvements in the team: It was a good team performance, we kept the ball well, not many unforced errors. It was nice to show a crowd we can do [after the Brazil defeat] after a fantastic summer. Updated at 9.17pm GMT 9.00pm GMT Full-time: England 3-0 Australia England bounce back from defeat against Brazil with an assured performance against Australia at Pride Park. Kennedy’s early red card was needless and England capatalised on the advantage immediately as Beever-Jones scored the rebound after her initial free-kick was blocked. From there the Lionesses were in cruise control as Bronze doubled the hosts’s lead on her birthday before coming off at half-time. The win was slightly soured after Agyemang was stretchered off less than 20 minutes after she came on and Beever-Jones also had an issue, forcing England to play with 10 in the final 15 minutes. Stanway’s penalty after a foul on Kearns was almost the last kick of the game and put the icing on the cake at Pride Park. Updated at 9.08pm GMT 8.55pm GMT GOAL! England 3-0 Australia (Stanway 90+6 pen) Arnold moves early and Stanway hammers it in the other direction to cap off a comfortable win. Updated at 8.59pm GMT 8.53pm GMT 90+6 min: The referee is now at the VAR screen after Gorry challenging Kearns in the box. The replay shows that Kearns got to the ball first but the ball was already out when the foul occurred. A needless challenge. Stanway steps up. Updated at 9.01pm GMT 8.51pm GMT 90+3 min: Foord gets booked as she comes off the pitch for not making way on the far side as told. Siemsen replaces her and Cooney-Cross also comes off for Rankin. The camera cuts to Foord airing her frustrations to Kerr. 8.48pm GMT 90+2 min: Stanway dribbles forward under no pressure and takes a chance right outside the box but it is blocked by Hunt. 8.47pm GMT 90 min: There will be at least six minutes of added time. 8.45pm GMT 87 min: Acres of space on the pitch now as we are back to equal numbers. Carpenter dribbles around in the box before Gorry takes a wild long-range shot. 8.41pm GMT 84 min: Beever-Jones comes off to no substitute and Wiegman instructs Le Tissier and Charles on how to set up. Looks like England have gone to a back three, with Kelly and Charles on the wings and Mead playing centrally. 8.39pm GMT 83 min: Beever-Jones is down now. Assuming England will play 10v10 – no point in risking her further. 8.39pm GMT 82 min: Beever-Jones has her leg strapped and is limping quite badly but England have made all the changes. 8.37pm GMT 79 min: Agyemang is stretchered off with her hands covering her face. Pride Park are on their feet applauding the Euro 2025 hero. Kelly comes on to replace her – she was likely supposed to replace Beever-Jones, who earlier gestured she needed to come off. 8.34pm GMT 78 min: Sour note on what has been a great night for England as the stretcher comes on the pitch for Agyemang. Unclear as to what exactly happened as she did not have the ball when she went down. Updated at 8.35pm GMT 8.32pm GMT 75 min: Concern for England as Agyemang goes down and the medics come rushing on as the players gesture to the touchline. 8.31pm GMT 74 min: Kendall wins the ball off Beever-Jones, whose shot is saved. The goalscorer then signals to the bench that she wants to be subbed off. 8.29pm GMT 71 min: Mead across for Agyemang, this one a low one, but the 19-year-old can’t quite control it. The ball then comes out to Stanway, who forces the save from Arnold. 8.26pm GMT 69 min: Triple change for Australia. Kerr, Sayer and Catley make way for Raso, Wheeler and Grant. Updated at 8.26pm GMT 8.24pm GMT 67 min: Mead swings it in for Agyemang, who gets ahead of Hunt in the box, but she miscontrols the ball as she tries to chest it down. 8.22pm GMT 66 min: Agyemang slips it through to Beever-Jones who lays it off to Stanway, but her shot is blocked. 8.20pm GMT 63 min: Kearns is making her first appearance since just missing out on Euro selection. She is playing alongside Kendall, her Aston Villa teammate. 8.19pm GMT 61 min: Wiegman makes four changes. Toone, Walsh, Russo and Hinds make way for Kearns, Stanway, Agyemang and Greenwood. Greenwood takes the armband off Walsh. 8.17pm GMT 60 min: Kendall lets one fly but he shot is blocked and Arnold deals with the follow-up. 8.16pm GMT 58 min: Cross come in from Russo and there are four white shirts in the box. It lands to Kendall whose header bounces off the crossbar. The midfielder, and Wiegman, both think it should be a corner, but the referee disagrees. The replay shows the ball did hit Catley in the face slightly before going out. 8.13pm GMT 55 min: Hinds whips it in and it only goes as far Sayer, whose header almost looks goalbound but it is just over the bar. Australia do not need an own goal to add to their misery. The resulting corner is dealt with by Arnold. 8.11pm GMT 55 min: The referee takes her time but awards England a free-kick about 35 yards away on the right after Foord grabs Charles by the stomach. Hinds standing over the ball. 8.09pm GMT 53 min: Australia are in the final third! This feels big given it has been a rarity. Kerr tries to find Carpenter in the middle of the box after a cross from the left but there are too many white shirts in between the two players. 8.08pm GMT 52 min: The ball has been passed around between Le Tissier, Walsh, Morgan and Hampton for over a minute. 8.07pm GMT 50 min: Catley tries to get Australia going but Charles just easily takes the ball off her. Australia seeing very little of the ball as they did in the first half, struggling (obviously) with the lack of an 11th player. 8.06pm GMT 48 min: Russo races ahead and tries to cut-back to Beever-Jones but the pass is just knicked off the Chelsea forward. 8.03pm GMT 46 min: At half-time, Charles came on for Bronze, who scored and assisted on her birthday. Not many of us can relate, I am sure. 7.59pm GMT 46 min: We are back underway at Pride Park. England will surely come out feeling confident and I doubt they will take their foot off the gas. Updated at 8.01pm GMT 7.48pm GMT Half-time: England 2-0 Australia A much better first half from England than against Brazil. Kennedy’s red card was the catalyst for Beever-Jones’s opener and Bronze doubled the hosts’s lead in Derby. Much for Wiegman to be happy about and much for Montemurro to ponder. 7.46pm GMT 45 min: Kendall tries to get ahead of Catley as a cross comes in at the far post but the debutant can’t quite get contact with the ball. 7.43pm GMT 42 min: Happy Birthday rings out for Bronze from the Pride Park crowd as England continue to pass the ball around the box. 7.42pm GMT GOAL! England 2-0 Australia (Bronze 40) England carve Australia and Bronze finishes the move on her 34th birthday. Toone cuts it back to the full-back in the box whose low shot finds the corner. It was always going to be tricky for the visitors after the red card and they fail to keep the deficit to one before the half-time whistle. Updated at 7.50pm GMT 7.38pm GMT 38 min: Hunt loses the ball and England go forward, Bronze has a go from across the box but her low shot is wide. 7.37pm GMT 36 min: Australia break! Foord finds Gorey and Kerr waves her hand in the box but Gorey takes too long. The ball is passed around a bit more before it lands to Kerr. She tries to have a go but Morgan and Bronze suffocate her from either side before she scuffs her shot. 7.35pm GMT 34 min: Le Tissier spots Beever-Jones and finds a good pass over the top but Arnold is out quick to collect. England are up to 74% possession at the moment. Australia’s only outlet is Kerr and at the moment, it looks like they are just trying to keep the score down and not necessarily score. 7.33pm GMT 32 min: The camera cuts to Wiegman who is rapidly writing away in her notepad. A penny for her thoughts notes. I am sure she would like another goal before the half-time whistle. 7.31pm GMT 30 min: Kendall finds Toone but her shot is well high as the ball bounced a bit just before she let it fly. 7.30pm GMT 28 min: Close! Kerr just sneaks behind Walsh and shoots at the near post but Hampton just manages to stick her foot out to make the save. Australia take the resulting corner short but are then called off-side. Shame for them that their most threatening player from set-pieces is the one that was sent off. 7.27pm GMT 27 min: Carpenter races on the right as Australia try to capatalise in a rare moment with the wall but Hinds matches her and wins the challenge. 7.25pm GMT 21 min: England are full of confidence now, Hinds and Russo both having their go at goal. Australia are in a low,compact 4-4-1 without the ball. The hosts had most of the possession before the red card; they are going to see even more of it now. 7.22pm GMT GOAL! England 1-0 Australia (Beever-Jones 20) Beever-Jones has been the most liveliest player and she finally gets her rewards. She takes the free-kick and it’s a low shot that is blocked by Australia’s wall. Bronze lays it off again to the forward and she rifles it with her second chance into the net. As England celebrate, Australia’s players form a huddle to regroup. Updated at 7.26pm GMT 7.20pm GMT RED CARD! England 0-0 Australia (Kennedy 19) Australia are down to 10 just as Brazil were on Saturday. Russo takes the ball and is away after Kennedy tries to evade a press but the ball goes straight into the path of the Arsenal forward. The defender tries to rectify her mistake but all she does is pull the forward back. It is a straight red for denying a goalscoring opportunity and no complaints from the visitors. England now have a free-kick right outside the box. Updated at 7.45pm GMT 7.17pm GMT 16 min: Good play from the left between Hinds, Toone and Beever-Jones but the latter can’t keep the ball in play. 7.14pm GMT 13 min: Beever-Jones finds the back of the net … but the flag is up. We do have VAR but the replay shows she just mistimed her run off of Carpenter and no complaints from her. It was a well-worked chance after a ball from Mead. Sigh of relief for the visitors. Updated at 7.15pm GMT 7.11pm GMT 10 min: England enjoying a long spell of possession. Earlier Morgan was walking with the ball, waiting – asking – to be pressed, but the Australia front line stayed flat. Clear plans from the visitors to counterattack when the chance comes. Sweet Caroline is already being played out by the band in the crowd. Updated at 7.12pm GMT 7.08pm GMT 7 min: Another chance for England. Mead wins the ball back on the right, finds Russo who does well to dig out the cross for Beever-Jones but her header goes wide. 7.06pm GMT 5 min: Hampton just gets her pass away as a scampering Kerr runs at her. England go forward as Russo lays it off to Bronze. The ball then lands to Kendall who lets a shot fly over the bar. 7.04pm GMT 3 min: Australia play out from the back but the ball is won high up and Toone’s shot from just inside the box is blocked. The ball comes back out and after some patient buildup, Mead crosses the ball for Beever-Jones. The Chelsea forward comes just off the shoulder of Carpenter and sticks her toe out but just can’t get a strong shot away. 7.00pm GMT Kick-off: England 0-0 Australia The teams are out, the anthems have been sung and the referee has blown the whistle. England are in their traditional white tops and blue shorts while Australia don their all-black kits. Here we go! 6.54pm GMT The England squad are in the tunnel saying hello to Grace Clinton and Lauren Hemp, who are out injured but are here to show the Pride Park crowd in Derby the Euro 2025 trophy that was won in the summer. Mary Fowler is also in attendance despite her injury, here to support the visitors. Kick-off less than 10 minutes away. 6.43pm GMT Let’s crunch some numbers and take a look at the match stats: England’s last clean sheet was during the Euro 2025 group stages – their second match of the tournament. Since then they have conceded Wales, Sweden, Italy, Spain and Brazil. England have lost four of their 14 matches in all competitions in 2025 (W7 D3), last suffering more defeats in a single calendar year in 2019 under Phil Neville (7). After losing to Brazil, England will be aiming to avoid losing back-to-back matches for the first time under Sarina Wiegman – the Lionesses last lost two in a row in their final two matches prior to the Dutchwoman’s appointment, in April 2021 (v France and Canada). England have scored in each of their last 15 games in all competitions, since a 0-0 draw with USA in November 2024 – the Lionesses could score in 16 consecutive matches for the first time ever. Sam Kerr has been directly involved in each of Australia’s last three goals against England (2 goals, 1 assist) – the Chelsea striker is the Matilda’s all-time leading scorer (69). Kyra Cooney-Cross created the most chances of any player against Wales; three of the four she created were for shots taken by Caitlin Foord, including the winning goal. 6.35pm GMT Reminder of how it went down the last time these sides met … the stakes were a bit higher two years ago. Related: England into World Cup final after Alessia Russo goal deflates Australia Related: Six key moments that shaped the Matildas’ World Cup semi-final against England Related: England beat Australia to reach the Women’s World Cup final – in pictures 6.16pm GMT Team news England XI (4-3-3): Hampton; Bronze, Le Tissier, Morgan, Hinds; Walsh, Kendall, Toone; Beever-Jones, Mead, Russo Subs: Keating, Moorhouse, Charles, Stanway, Greenwood, Carter, Kelly, Kearns, Agyemang, Blindkilde Brown, Fisk, Naz Wiegman hands two debuts to Kendall and Hinds. Hampton makes her return from injury, while it seems Le Tissier has earned her start at centre-back tonight after much fan drama. Australia XI (4-2-3-1): Arnold; Carpenter, Hunt, Heatley, Catley; Gorry, Kennedy; Cooney-Cross, Sayer, Foord; Kerr Subs: Micah, Aquino, Nevin, Vine, Wheeler, Torpey, Raso, Grant, McNamara, Siemsen, Rankin, Heyman Only two changes from the Matildas win against Wales, with Torpey and Wheeler making way for Kennedy and Sayer. Kerr handed another chance to get more minutes in her legs. Her last goal for Australia was on 1 November, 2023 – almost two years to the day. Updated at 6.21pm GMT 6.15pm GMT As for Australia, their late winner against Wales was surely a welcome one but the Matilda’s dominance drifted during the game. Joe Montemurro’s side started strong but the misplaced passes and errors crept in allowing the hosts some good spells of possession. Related: Australia’s late winner sinks Wales to deny Jess Fishlock a fitting farewell Much of the buildup to the match was around Sam Kerr’s return. The captain and star striker was making her first international appearance since 2023 and while it was a subdued performance, her return ignites a lot of buzz … and a lot of questions. Once the excitement of her return settles, there are pertinent questions as to how she will fit into this team. She is a freak athlete, but also one who is 32 and coming off a near two-year-long recovery. She was injured while Tony Gustavsson was national-team coach – the Swede having landed on a 4-4-2 that got close to the best out of her and Foord – but Montemurro will have his own ideas on how to fit her into what he wants to do. Part of this will be figuring out her place in an attack also featuring Foord (arguably the Matildas’ most important player now), Raso, McNamara, Amy Sayer, Mary Fowler, Michelle Heyman and any other forward that emerges. Joey Lynch’s full analysis is below. Related: Sam Kerr back but without much of a bang after 725-day Australia absence | Joey Lynch 6.01pm GMT So what happened against Brazil? The Canarinhas came out at the Etihad Stadium quickly and they were 2-0 up within 18 minutes as the Lionesses’s makeshift defence struggled with the pace of Ludmilla, Zaneratto and Dudinha. Angelina was sent off in the 21st minute and naturally, the visitor’s gameplan changed, approaching the rest of the match more timidly. Despite the player advantage, England struggled. They registered three shots on target and four big chances, both stats the same as their opponents despite having 70% possession. Related: Brazil’s fast start delivers victory over Lionesses despite Angelina’s red card Both Suzanne Wrack and Sophie Downey were in Manchester to see England’s loss first-hand and both voiced that there is little cause for concern … yet. But continuing weaknesses have to be a focus for Wiegman and her new cohort of assistants to try to rectify before qualification begins for the 2027 World Cup next spring. This game may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, a red flag against complacency and a reminder that lifting silverware on the international stage does not automatically fix endemic problems. If England can figure out that side of their game, there is no doubt that with the quality of personnel available, this team could push the levels of their success even higher than they have previously done. Read Sophie’s full analysis below. Related: Experimental England exposed by Brazil but Wiegman has no reason to panic | Sophie Downey 5.45pm GMT Preamble Sound the alarms, England are in crisis mode … is what we would say if we were to take the Lionesses 2-1 loss to 10-player Brazil on Saturday at face value (and even then, saying the above would be quite the stretch). But, as Sarina Wiegman has repeatedly stressed, England are in experimental mode as early ground work begins for the 2027 World Cup. The manager knows the squad she relied on to win back-to-back European Championship titles will be different in 18 months’ time and is using these friendlies as a chance to see what works and what does not. With all that being said, Wiegman and the players have also said that the habit of winning is important to maintain. It did not work against Brazil but a new test awaits today at Pride Park in Derby. Australia have had a rocky few months and this England match is part of their preparation for their home Asian Cup in March. Joe Montemurro was hired four months ago after a string of disappointing results, including at the Paris Olympics. Sam Kerr returned after a 725-day absence and the Matildas will surely be a big vengeful. The last time the sides faced each other was at the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup, a 3-1 England win. Much to look forward to and discuss. Kick-off is at 7pm GMT / 6am AEDT. As always, feel free to send your thoughts, questions, predictions and judgments on Wiegman’s tactics my way via email.