WOMENS SOCCER - INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES
2012
Friendly - England (2) @ (2) France - In a pre-2013 European Championships friendly against a strong France team in Paris, England cam away with a tough draw. England led 2-0 at the half thanks to goals from Steph Houghton and Jill Scott but France rescued a draw with 2 goals in the 2nd half from Marie-Laure Delie, with the equaliser coming with 8 minutes left (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Adderley/Ward, PAL)
2015
Friendly - England (0) @ (1) Canada - In their final warm-up game before the World Cup, the home side took the win with a superb 1st half goal. England fielded a team of several players on the fringe of the 1st team but they held their own for the majority of the match. The game was settled by a 1st time shot from Sophie Schmidt in the 23rd minute that flew into the top corner. England were led by Steph Houghton and also featured Toni Duggan, Karen Carney and Lianne Sanderson. The top 1/5th of the picture is blurred out to hide the TSN logo. No half-time (9, 1 Disc, BBC - Cowen/Dowie, PAL)
Friendly - England (0) @ (0) Germany - England solidified their place as a top team in the Womens game with a well deserved goal-less draw in Duisberg, Germany. Both teams were evenly matched even though Germany had the more goal-scoring chances (11-5) but England goal-keeper Karen Bardsley was in good form and kept the hosts at bay. The draw was only England's 3rd against Germany in 22 matches (10, 1 Disc, BBC - Pearce/Smith, PAL)
2016
SheBelieves Cup - USA (1) v (0) England - In the opening game of the tournament for each team, USA claimed the win with a late goal. The game had very few chances but the game was settled by a 20 yard thunderbolt from substitute Crystal Dunn in the 72nd minute and USA hung on for the victory (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Pearce/Smith, PAL)
SheBelieves Cup - Germany (2) v (1) England - Germany fought back from a 1-0 deficit in the 2nd half to beat the English with 2 late goals. England took a 1-0 lead in at the half with a goal from Toni Duggan, but Germany capitalised on a tiring England team with 2 goals in the final 14 minutes from an own goal and a controversial penatly converted by Babett Peter. England's Fara Williams made her 150th appearance for her country (10, 1st half from an internet source and is quality 8, 2 Discs, BBC - Pearce/Smith, PAL)
2017
SheBelieves Cup - England (1) v (2) France - England suffered heartbreak in their opening game of the tournament, losing to 2 goals in the final 10 minutes, including the game-winner with the last kick of the game in the 95th minute. England took a 1-0 lead in the 1st half with a goal from Jordan Nobbs after a goalkeeper error and seemed to have the game in hand. But France were a better side in the 2nd half and late goals from Marie-Laure Delie and Wendie Renard turned the game around and gave "Les Bleus" the win (9, 1 Disc, BBC - Corwen/Smith, PAL)
SheBelieves Cup - England (1) v (0) USA - England sensationally ended the USA's 28 game home-win streak with a late goal in New Jersey. Both teams struggled in front of goal, combining for only 5 shots on target, and the game seemed destined to end in a draw. But in the 89th minute, Ellen White was on hand to poke home a shot that had rebounded off the bar and England celebrated the famous victory (8, Downloaded from the internet, 1 Disc, FOX - ?/Wambach, PAL)
SheBelieves Cup - England (0) v (1) Germany - England rounded off their SheBelieves Cup campaign with a narrow defeat at the hands of European and Olympic champions Germany in Washington. Germany had the better of the 1st half and took a 1-0 lead in at the half with a goal from Anja Mittag. England stepped up a gear in the 2nd half and created numerous chances but poor finishing let them down and Germany held on for the win. With the loss, England finished 3rd out of the 4 teams (9, 1st half taken from an internet source and is a quality 8, 1 Disc, BBC - Corwen/Smith, PAL)
Friendly - England (0) @ (1) France - In their 1st game after the sacking of their coach Mark Sampson, England battle hard in Valenciennes but lost the game to a last minute winner from the hosts. England continued their good form against the top sides in the world, controlling possession for long periods, but they created only 1 shot on target. France made them pay for their poor forward play when in the 89th minute Viviane Asseyi capitalised on England goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain's mistake to nod in to an empty net to snatch victory (9, 2 Discs, BBC - Pearce/Smith, PAL)
2018
SheBelieves Cup - England (4) v (1) France - England opened their account in the SheBelieves Cup with a dominating win over France in Columbus, Ohio. Goals from Toni Duggan, Jill Scott and Jodie Taylor gave England a 3-0 lead at the half, and a further goal from Fran Kirby in the 2nd half sealed the win. France scored a consolation goal from Gaetane Thiney in the 77th minute. The win gave new England coach Phil Neville a winning start in his 1st game (10, 1 Disc, BBC - Pearce/Smith, PAL)
SheBelieves Cup - England (2) v (2) Germany - England kept their unbeaten run in the competition going with a come-from-behind draw in New Jersey. Twice England went behind from Defensive mistakes but England fought back each time and could have won the game late on, but missed 2 great chances to take the win. The England goals came from Ellen White (2). The Germany goals came from Hasret Kayikci and an own goal (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Pearce/Smith, PAL)
SheBelieves Cup - England (0) v (1) USA - The USA finished as tournament winners after beating England in Orlando, Florida. England just needed a draw to win the tournament but a 2nd half own goal from 'keeper Karen Bardsley gave the USA the lead they defended to the end. The USA dominated the statistics : 61% possession, 8 shots to 6 (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Sparks/Smith, PAL)
2019
SheBelieves Cup - England (2) v (1) Brazil - England's opening game in the tournament ended in a hard-fought win at the Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. Brazil dominated the 1st half and took a 1-0 lead in at the break. England turned it around in the 2nd half, and 2 unanswered goals gave them the win. The England goals came from Ellen White and a sensational long-range shot from Beth Mead. The Brazil goal came from a penalty from Andressa Alves. Brazil also featured Marta, who had a great 1st half but faded in the 2nd half (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Sparks/S.Smith, PAL)
SheBelieves Cup - USA (2) v (2) England - England kept their unbeaten start to the tournament going with a competitive win against the World Champions at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Again England started slowly and conceded the 1st goal with Megan Rapinoe smashing the ball home. England struck back immediately with a well-worked free-kick goal from captain Steph Houghton and then took the lead with a great finish from Nikita Parris. USA weren't done, though, and fought back to earn a draw with a goal from Tobin Heath after an untidy goal-mouth scramble. To celebrate international Womens day, the USA players wore the names of their heroines on the back of their jerseys (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Pearce/S.Smith, PAL)
SheBelieves Cup - England (3) v (0) Japan - For the first time since the tournament's inception in 2016, England won the trophy by beating World Cup Finalists Japan at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. England put in a complete performance, starting fast and racing out to a 3-0 lead after 30 minutes. With the game won, England defended well to see out the game. The goals came from Lucy Staniforth, Karen Carney and Beth Mead with Jodie Taylor having an inspired game, setting up 2 of the goals (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Cowen/S.Smith, PAL)
Friendly - Spain (1) @ (2) England - At Swindon Town's County Ground, England used a strong 1st half to beat Spain. England led 1-0 at the half and 2-0 40 seconds into the 2nd half before coach Phil Neville made a raft of substitutions that allowed Spain to get back in to the game. They pulled a goal back but England defended resolutely to see out the game and take the win. The England goals came from Beth Mead and Ellen White. The Spain goal came from Aitana Bonmati. England were missing captain Steph Houghton to injury (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Pearce/Brown-Finnis, PAL)
Friendly - New Zealand (1) @ (0) England - In England's final warm-up game before the World Cup, visitors New Zealand recorded a shock win at Brighton's Amex Stadium. Early in the 2nd half, England goalkeeper Carly Telford spilled a speculative shot and Kiwi striker Sarah Gregorius nipped in to score, and New Zealand defended the lead to the end to record a big victory. England dominated the statistics (65% possession, 15 shots on goal, 18 corners) but couldn't convert any of their chances into goals (10, 2 Discs, BBC - Pearce/S.Smith, PAL)
2020
SheBelieves Cup - England (0) v (2) USA - England opened their defense of the SheBelieves Cup with a demoralising loss in Orlando. England were missing star player Lucy Bronze to injury and the re-shuffled defense failed to cope in her absence, as the USA won the game with 2 goals in 2 minutes early in the 2nd Half from Christen Press and Carli Lloyd. The USA out-shot England 23 attempts to 8 (9, 2 Discs, BBC - Pearce/Smith, PAL)
SheBelieves Cup - England (1) v (0) Japan - England won their first game of the tournament with a big win in New Jersey. England coach Phil Neville fielded a young team with an average age of 21 and they dominated the 1st half, with only poor finishing keeping the game scoreless. England brought on Ellen White and Toni Duggan in the 2nd half and their experience combined for the game-winning goal with 7 minutes to play from White to give England the victory (9, 2 Discs, BBC - Cowen/Smith, PAL)
2022
Arnold Clark Cup - Germany (1) @ (3) England - At Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England scored two late goals to beat Germany on home soil for the first time in their history and win the Arnold Clark Cup. Both teams were level at 1-1 at the break, but England scored 2 goals in the final 10 minutes to win the game. The England goals came from Ellen White, Millie Bright and a sensational solo goal from Fran Kirby deep into injury time. The Germany goal came from captain Lina Magull (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Hutchinson/Hayes, PAL)
Friendly - Netherlands (1) @ (5) England - England extended their win streak under new coach Sarina Wiegman with a big win against Wiegman's old team at Elland Road in Leeds. After a tense first half, both teams went in at the break tied at 1-1. But the 2nd half belonged to England as they scored 4 unanswered goals to take the win. The England goals came from Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead (2), Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp. The Netherlands goal came from Lieke Martens while captain Sherida Spitse also missed a penalty. Bizzarely, England wore Orange shirts while the Dutch wore white (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Hutchinson/Chamberlain, PAL)
Friendly - USA (1) @ (2) England - England welcomed the World Cup Holders USA to Wembley Stadium for a friendly, and ended the visitors 21 game unbeaten streak with a 2-1 win. All the goals came in the 1st half, with England then defending their lead in the 2nd half with a great defensive performance. The England goals came from Lauren Hemp and Georgia Stanway. The USA goal came from Sophia Smith. The USA also featured Megan Rapinoe (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Hutchinson/Ward)
2023
Friendly - Brazil (1) @ (1) England - In front of 83,132 fans at Wembley, England won the first ever match-up of the European and South American champions, dubbed "The Finalissima". In a game of 2 halves, England dominated the 1st half and went in at the break 1-0 up thanks to a goal from Alessia Russo. But Brazil made 2 changes at half-time and the game turned in their favour, and they were rewarded with an equaliser in the 3rd minute of stoppage time from Andressa Alves da Silva. There was no extra-time, so the game went straight to penalties, and it was England that triumphed, winning 4-2. With the win, England extended their unbeaten run to 30 games (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Hutchinson/Hayes, PAL)
UEFA Nations League Group A1 - England (6) @ (0) Scotland - In the final game of the group, England needed to win and better by 3 goals the Dutch result, to qualify for the semi-finals. England dominated the Scots from the off and built on a 4-0 lead in at the break with 2 more goals in the 2nd half to easily win the game. Unfortunately, the Netherlands scored a 4th goal with the final kick of their game to win 4-0 and deny England a place in the semi-finals. The England goals came from Alex Greenwood, Lauren James, Beth Mead (2), Fran Kirby and Lucy Bronze. Also includes the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award to England Goalkeeper Mary Earps (9, 2 Discs, BBC - Cowen/Crichton/S.Smith, PAL)