da betsson： The Lionesses go into the tournament as the European champions, but what makes them capable of becoming the world champions?

da winzada777： England might go into this summer’s Women’s World Cup as the European champions, but their task of backing that up with another major tournament triumph will certainly be tricky. The Lionesses are without a number of key players through injury, they’ve landed in the extremely top-heavy side of the draw and the weight of expectation is certainly higher now they have a title in the bag.

That said, there is a reason they have that trophy in the cabinet after all. There might be new challenges for Sarina Wiegman’s side to overcome in Australia, but they have plenty of qualities that can help them adapt and overcome those.

England are certainly one of the favourites to win this World Cup title – and here are six reasons why they can do it…

GettyPractice without key names

Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room. England are without three really big names this summer in Beth Mead, Leah Williamson and Fran Kirby. Mead has been ruled out since last November after rupturing her ACL in Arsenal’s defeat to Manchester United. In April, Williamson suffered the same injury against the same opponent. In May, having not played since early February, Kirby became the third member of England’s Euro 2022 starting XI to be ruled out of this World Cup, also with a knee injury.

The trio will be huge misses, there’s no doubt, but the good news is that the Lionesses have been without all of them at points over the last 12 months – and have only lost once in that time.

Mead’s absence is a blow softened by the plethora of attacking talent England have out wide (more on that later). Meanwhile, Wiegman was without Williamson in the early parts of the season due to a foot injury and so has had to trial different centre-back partnerships already. Kirby, too, has missed a few international breaks since the Euros and so the coach has had to look at alternatives in her position.

Of course, it’s not ideal to be without these three, but at least England have had some practice in being without them.

AdvertisementGettyTitle-winning experience

One of the biggest strengths that this England team has is bucket loads of experience. Sixteen of the 23 players that Wiegman has chosen for the Women’s World Cup were also in the squad last summer as the Lionesses lifted a first major tournament trophy at the Euros. That’s a huge experience to have under their belts going into this summer.

On top of that, so many of these players are used to big moments and huge occasions at club level – be it the four who just won a league and cup double with Chelsea, Bayern Munich midfielder Georgia Stanway helping her new club win just a fifth league title in their history or the Barcelona duo of Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh who lifted the Champions League trophy in June.

This is a group that knows what it takes to win trophies on so many levels and in so many different situations – and that will only help in their pursuit of glory in Australia.

Getty ImagesWiegman's know-how

Not only do the players in this team have big experience – so does their coach. After guiding the Netherlands to the title in 2017, Wiegman won her second successive Euros last summer, and this year she’ll hope to at least match the feat she achieved with her home country in 2019 and reach the World Cup final. Of all the coaches who came up against the United States women’s national team in that tournament, it was Wiegman who looked like she had the best plan to take the eventual champions down.

This is someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to the biggest stages, someone who is exceptionally well supported by her assistant Arjan Veurink, a man as well-liked and as highly-respected as Wiegman herself. When speaking to the players about the coaching staff, they so often repeat the same thing, that Wiegman and co. get the best out of them. This is a woman who has incredible attention to detail and knows how to win.

England have a tricky path through this tournament – with co-hosts Australia, Euro 2022 finalists Germany and a dangerous looking France side all possibly standing between them and the final. But they have the staff to prepare them as well as possible for such challenges.

GettyDepth in attack

As mentioned, England are missing Ballon d’Or runner-up Mead for this tournament – but they are still absolutely stacked in the wide areas. The Manchester City duo of Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp are expected to start on either flank, with Brighton’s young forward Katie Robinson proving to be an excellent impact player from the bench, too. Lauren James, the Chelsea star, could be competing for a wide spot or to play in the No.10 role – shining in the latter position in England’s send-off friendly with Portugal in early July.

That’s without us even getting to the strikers yet. Alessia Russo has assumed the role as the Lionesses’ No.9 since Ellen White’s retirement last summer, having scored four goals in six substitute appearances at the Euros. However, she’s under serious pressure from Rachel Daly for that place, the Aston Villa star who claimed the Golden Boot at the end of the Women’s Super League season after scoring 22 goals in 22 games – a total that equalled Vivianne Miedema’s record.

And then there is Bethany England, who scored 12 goals in as many matches for a relegation-threatened Spurs side after joining them from Chelsea in January.

With so many players in great form, it’s all extremely competitive at the top end of the pitch, meaning not only will England have a really strong starting XI, but a lot of subs ready to impact the game, too.