As the U.S. women’s national team prepares for the 2023 World Cup, Just Women’s Sports is taking a look at its opponents — including its three group-stage adversaries and its likely matchups in the knockout rounds.

Next up is a recent foe and potential opponent in the 2023 World Cup final: England.

Manager: Sarina Wiegman

Fans of women’s soccer know the name Sarina Wiegman. The 53-year-old joined the club from the Netherlands, where she had been head coach from 2016-21 after a long international career as a player. Since taking over as manager in September 2021, Wiegman has led the club to its first-ever Euros title — a year after also winning it with the Netherlands — and to victory over Brazil in the first-ever women’s Finalissima. The 2022 Best FIFA Women’s Coach’s first loss as England coach came just this year, a 2-0 defeat in a friendly against Australia.

Key player: Mary Earps

England has a multitude of offensive and defensive weapons, but perhaps no player is more important than goalkeeper Mary Earps. The 30-year-old Manchester United keeper is the glue that holds the Lionesses together as they look to win their first-ever World Cup. Earps is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, becoming the first to reach 50 clean sheets in the WSL in May, and England will rely on her all tournament.

World Cup history

England has advanced to the knockout stage of every World Cup they’ve played in, including three quarterfinals appearances in 1995, 2007 and 2007 and a third-place finish in 2015. The Lionesses followed that up with a fourth-place finish in 2019 after the USWNT knocked them out of the semifinals, 2-1. England then lost to Sweden 2-1 in the third-place match.

Group stage schedule

England will play in Group D alongside Denmark, China and Haiti. Take a look at the schedule below, or check out the full World Cup schedule.

• Saturday, July 22 – 5:30 a.m. (FOX)
  • England vs. Haiti
• Friday, July 28 – 4:30 a.m. (FS1)
  • England vs. Denmark
• Tuesday, Aug. 1 – 7 a.m. (FOX)
  • England vs. China

Keys to beat the USWNT

This England squad looks vastly different from the one that won Euros a year ago and beat the USWNT 2-1 in a friendly at Wembley last October. Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Fran Kirby are all out with injuries sustained in the last year, with Williamson perhaps the team’s biggest loss.

Despite the injuries, England is considered one of the favorites to win the World Cup title. And based on the bracket, if the USWNT is to meet England in the tournament, it will be in the final.

This is a team full of stars who have come into their own since winning the Euros title last year. Ella Toone and Georgia Stanway are dangerous midfielders, while Rachel Daly, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo and Chloe Kelly provide England with a well-balanced attack up front. The team is anchored by Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright and Lotte Wubben-Moy on the backline and in front of Earps.

England has struggled to find its footing of late, taking a 2-0 loss to Australia and 0-0 draw with Portugal into the World Cup as their latest results. To beat the USWNT once again, they’ll look to follow a similar playbook as their win in October: strike early and attack often. They’ll also need to contain Sophia Smith, who had the USWNT’s lone goal in that game. The speed of the USWNT’s other attackers — Trinity Rodman, Lynn Williams and Alex Morgan — could also pose problems for England.

But if England can get rolling early, they’ll put the USWNT into a vulnerable position they don’t often find themselves in, needing to respond rather than attack.

The 2025 Wimbledon Championships wrapped its second round on Thursday, with the grass court Grand Slam seeing just 15 of the tournament's 32 seeded players advance to the Friday and Saturday's third round.

A full half of the WTA's Top 10 players did not survive the week, with 2024 Wimbledon finalist and world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini joining four first-round star exits by falling to unseeded Kamilla Rakhimova in a three-set, second-round battle on Wednesday.

At the same time, unseeded fan favorites like Japan's No. 53 Naomi Osaka and England's own No. 40 Emma Raducanu secured third-round spots at the London Slam, joining top surviving contenders like No. 4 Iga Świątek and defending Wimbledon champion No. 16 Barbora Krejčíková.

Notably, a full five US players managed to move ahead, tied for the largest national contingent still standing at the tournament.

Led by 2025 Australian Open champion No. 8 Madison Keys, the US group also includes No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 12 Amanda Anisimova, as well as unseeded players No. 54 Danielle Collins and No. 55 Hailey Baptiste.

With matches against Świątek and No. 7 Mirra Andreeva, respectively, Collins and Baptiste have a tough third round ahead — though Navarro's battle against the 2024 champ Krejčíková arguably headlines Saturday's slate.

How to watch Wimbledon this weekend

While world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is still holding strong in the dwindling field, this year's Wimbledon play is proving that the London Slam is anyone's to take, as the grass court humbles even the sport's top stars.

Expect the twists and turns to continue as tennis's best battle for spots in Sunday's Round of 16.

Round-of-32 Wimbledon play kicks off at 6 AM ET on Friday, with live continuous coverage of the tournament airing on ESPN.

The 2025 European Championship is officially underway, as Euro action kicked off with a group-stage upset on Wednesday.

Though the 2025 UEFA tournament's opener was a sweltering affair amid a European heat wave, world No. 26 Finland prevailed, earning a 1-0 upset win over No. 14 Iceland in Group A.

Finnish winger Katariina Kosola played hero, curling in the winning goal in the match's 70th minute — just 12 minutes after Iceland midfielder Hildur Antonsdóttir picked up the competition's first red card.

"The result is important for our confidence," Kosola said after Finland's first major tournament win since the 2009 Euro. "It was the kind of goal I have been practicing a lot."

"It's terrible to lose and we feel frustrated," said Iceland head coach Thorsteinn Halldórsson. "It is an even group and we knew Finland were good, but our first half wasn't good enough."

Elsewhere, No. 16 Norway closed out Wednesday's slate on top of Group A, taking three points by defeating host No. 23 Switzerland in day's second match.

Led by captain and 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg — who pulled the match even with a second-half strike — Norway battled to a 2-1 comeback win, despite the Swiss side outshooting and out-possessing the Norwegians.

How to watch this week's 2025 Euro action

Group B steals the 2025 Euro spotlight on Thursday.

While No. 13 Italy snagged a 1-0 opening win over No. 20 Belgium to kick off the day, 2023 World Cup champions and tournament favorite No. 2 Spain will face No. 22 Portugal at 3 PM ET.

Friday's Group C slate will pit No. 12 Denmark against No. 6 Sweden at 12 PM ET, before No. 3 Germany contends with No. 27 Poland at 3 PM ET.

Closing out the first group-stage matches will be arguably the toughest draw of the 2025 Euro pool.

Saturday's Group D slate features major tournament debutants No. 30 Wales against the No. 11 Netherlands at 12 PM ET, with No. 10 France taking on defending champions No. 5 England to cap the day at 3 PM ET.

Live coverage of 2025 Euro matches will air across Fox Sports platforms.

The world No. 1 USWNT ruled the pitch on Wednesday night, shutting out North American rivals No. 8 Canada 3-0 to finish the international window on a high note.

Catching the Canada backline sleeping, US midfielder Sam Coffey opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark before 19-year-old Claire Hutton claimed her first-ever USWNT goal by heading in a Rose Lavelle corner kick in the game's 36th minute.

Houston Dash forward Yazmeen Ryan then padded the US tally in the waning minutes of the match, finding the back of the net just eight minutes after subbing onto the field.

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Despite fielding a young roster, the US overpowered a veteran-heavy Canada side in almost every category, topping their Northern neighbors in shots, shots on target, possession, and — most notably — set pieces.

Canada ultimately couldn't match the game's mental pace or physical battle, as the USWNT scored all three goals off dead ball situations — a free kick, a corner kick, and a throw-in.

"It's not about the opponent," US head coach Emma Hayes said after the match. "It's about what we do, and I felt that was extremely dominant."

With Wednesday's contributions, the USWNT finishes the summer window with 11 goals scored across the three friendlies — and zero goals conceded.

The US now enters an extended break before reconvening for another as-yet-unannounced friendly series in October — but players will be expected to perform in the meantime.

"I said to the players in the end in the huddle, if you want to compete to win the biggest things, it's not what you do here that matters," said Hayes. "It's what you do when you go back to your club."

The 2025 WNBA regular season returns on Thursday night, with teams at the top of the league standings looking to prove their mettle against close competition across the long holiday weekend.

The No. 5 Seattle Storm have arguably the toughest weekend assignments, taking on the No. 4 Atlanta Dream on Friday before tackling the No. 3 New York Liberty on Sunday.

Four middle-of-the-pack teams will look to close in on a double-digit season win tally while the league's frontrunners strive to maintain their advantage in this weekend's slate:

• No. 7 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 8 Indiana Fever, Thursday at 7 PM ET (Prime): Though still without star Caitlin Clark, the Fever hope to harness their 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup victory momentum against an Aces side tied with Indiana with an 8-8 season record.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream, Thursday at 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Seattle will look to make strides against a strong Atlanta side while putting last Sunday's stinging 84-57 loss to up-and-comer Golden State in their rearview.

• No. 6 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, Saturday at 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The rising Valkyries must face a Lynx side hunting redemption, as the league-leaders look to bounce back from their stifling Tuesday Commissioner's Cup upset loss.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 3 New York Liberty, Sunday at 1 PM ET (CBS): With injured Liberty center Jonquel Jones still sidelined, the Seattle Storm will have a chance to steal a weekend game against the reigning champs, as New York struggles to re-find their footing.

With the 2025 WNBA All-Star break looming, early top performers must keep standards high if they want to hold the line when the season crosses the midway point.