Early years The success of the
men's national football team at the
1966 FIFA World Cup led to an upsurge of interest in football from women within England. The
Women's Football Association (WFA) was established in 1969 as an attempt to organise the women's game. That same year,
Harry Batt formed an
independent English team that competed in the
Fédération Internationale Européenne de Football Féminine (FIEFF) European Cup. Batt's team also participated in two FIEFF World Cups held
in Italy (1970) and
Mexico (1971). Following a
UEFA recommendation in 1972 for national associations to incorporate the women's game,
the Football Association (FA) later that year rescinded its ban on women playing on
English Football League grounds. Shortly after,
Eric Worthington was tasked by the WFA to assemble an official women's national team. England competed in its first international match against
Scotland in
Greenock on 18 November 1972, 100 years to the month after the
first men's international. The team overturned a two-goal deficit to
defeat their northern opponents 3–2, with
Sylvia Gore scoring England's first international goal.
Pat Firth scored a
hat-trick in an international against Scotland in 1973 among the 8–0 scoreline.
Tom Tranter replaced Worthington as long term manager of the women's national football team and remained in that position for the next six years. England lost the subsequent penalty shootout 4–3.
Theresa Wiseman saved
Helen Johansson's penalty but both Curl and
Lorraine Hanson had their spot kicks saved by
Elisabeth Leidinge. At the
1987 European Competition for Women's Football, England again reached the semi-finals but lost 3–2 after extra time against holders Sweden, in a repeat of the previous final. The team settled for fourth, after losing the third place play-off against Italy 2–1. Reagan was sacked after England's 6–1 quarter-final loss against Germany at
UEFA Women's Euro 1991, which left them unable to qualify for
the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup.
John Bilton was appointed as head coach in 1991 after
Barrie Williams's brief tenure. Reaching the European semi-finals granted England a place at the World Cup for the first time. The team advanced from the group stage of the
1995 FIFA Women's World Cup in Sweden, but lost out again to Germany 3–0 in the quarter-finals.
1998–2013: Development under Powell Hope Powell became the team's first full-time head coach in June 1998, succeeding her former coach Copeland. England automatically qualified as hosts
in 2005, but again did not make it to the semi-finals. Qualification for the World Cup changed for the
1999 edition. European qualifiers were introduced, so that teams no longer needed to rely on advancing to the latter stages of the European Championship. England qualified unbeaten for the
2007 World Cup in China, winning Group 5 in
the European qualifiers and recording their biggest win (away against
Hungary, 13–0) in the process, ending a 12-year hiatus from the competition. After coming second in their group, they advanced into the quarter-finals to face the
United States but lost 3–0. In May 2009, central contracts were implemented to help players focus on full-time training without having to fit it around full-time employment. Three months later, at the
European Championships in Finland, England marked their return to the recently expanded 12-team competition by reaching the final for the first time in 25 years. They advanced from Group C to the quarter-finals by virtue of being the top third-placed team, beating both
the hosts and the
Netherlands in the knockout stage on the way to the
final. There they lost 6–2 to reigning champions Germany. England reached their third
World Cup in 2011, having
won Group 5 and
their play-off 5–2 over two legs against
Switzerland. In Germany, they topped Group B – ahead of eventual winners
Japan. England were paired with
France in the quarter-finals, with the match ending in a 1–1 draw. England had taken the lead with
Jill Scott's chip, only to have
Élise Bussaglia equalise with two minutes remaining. After extra time ended in stalemate, they lost the ensuing penalty shootout 4–3.
Karen Bardsley had saved
Camille Abily's initial penalty but misses by
Claire Rafferty and
Faye White sent England out of the competition. Powell left the role in August 2013 after a poor showing at the
UEFA Women's Euro 2013, with England bowing out after the group stage.
2013–2017: Sampson era Welshman
Mark Sampson succeeded Powell as England manager. England qualified for their third successive
World Cup in August 2014 with a game to spare, winning all ten matches and
topping Group 6. England played their first international match at the new
Wembley Stadium, home to the men's national team, in a friendly against the reigning European champions Germany on 23 November 2014. England had not played Germany since their heavy defeat in the European Championship final five years earlier. They lost the match 3–0, marking the 20th attempt at which
England had failed to record an official win over Germany. At the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, England lost their opening group game to France but won their remaining group games against Mexico and Colombia, easing through to the last 16 to play 1995 champions Norway. A 2–1 win set up a meeting with hosts Canada in the quarter-finals. Despite facing not only a strong Canadian team but a capacity partisan crowd at BC Place in Vancouver, England progressed to the semifinals of the Women's World Cup for the first time in their history with another 2–1 win, which also marked the first semifinal appearance by any England senior team since the men reached the last four of the
1990 World Cup in Italy. Playing reigning World Cup holders Japan in the semi-finals, England conceded a penalty kick, which
Aya Miyama converted past Karen Bardsley. Japan then conceded a penalty as
Yuki Ogimi clipped
Steph Houghton and
Fara Williams slotted it past
Ayumi Kaihori to level the game. However, in the last minute of the game,
Laura Bassett scored an
own goal to send Japan through to the final. England eventually finished in third place by beating Germany 1–0 after extra time after a Williams penalty, their first time beating their archrivals in the women's game. It marked the best finish for any England senior team since the men's team famously won the
1966 World Cup as hosts. England qualified for the
UEFA Women's Euro 2017 in the Netherlands and won all three of their group games at the tournament. England beat France 1–0 in the quarter-finals, a great performance, given that England had not beaten France since 1974, before meeting hosts and eventual champions, the Netherlands. In the semi-finals, England conceded three goals without reply and were knocked out of the tournament. In September 2017, Sampson was sacked from his role as manager by the FA after evidence of "inappropriate and unacceptable" behaviour was uncovered during his tenure at
Bristol Academy. The FA in January 2019 agreed to pay a "significant" financial settlement to Sampson, on the week his claim for unfair dismissal was due to be heard in court. He was replaced by
Phil Neville, who had played at Manchester United – including in their 1999 treble winning season – and Everton and been capped by the England men but had never before held a high-profile managing job.
2018–2021: Neville era . After being appointed manager, Neville's first games in charge were at the
2018 SheBelieves Cup. In their first game, England defeated France 4–1, then drew 2–2 against Germany. They went into the final game against the United States with the opportunity to win the tournament, but lost 1–0. Second place was the highest England had finished at the SheBelieves Cup. England continued with
World Cup qualification in 2018. On 6 April they drew 0–0 against Wales. After the qualifying games in June, England and Wales were guaranteed the first two spots in qualifying Group 1, and England's 3–0 win against Wales in August 2018 saw them clinch the group and qualify for the World Cup finals. In the
2019 SheBelieves Cup, England won the tournament for the first time after winning their first match 2–1 against Brazil, drawing 2–2 with the United States and defeating Japan 3–0. In the
2019 Women's World Cup in France, England won group D, beating local rivals Scotland and archrival Argentina to qualify for the knockout phase, before beating Japan. England beat both Cameroon and then Norway 3–0 to advance to the semifinal against United States in Lyon – the team's third straight major tournament semifinal. However, similar to the previous two tournaments, England once again failed to make the final, losing 2–1.
Alex Morgan scored the winner after
Ellen White had equalised following
Christen Press' opening goal, while White had an equaliser ruled out by VAR and Houghton had a penalty saved by
Alyssa Naeher. The team finished in fourth after losing the
third place play-off to Sweden 2–1. In March 2019
Winsford was chosen for the site of the £70m Cheshire FA Centre of Excellence, which would have become the new home of the England Women's Football Team. It would also have acted as a training base for European teams playing in Liverpool and Manchester. The development was delayed by the
COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. In October 2020 the Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave his support for the development to go ahead, and it was supposed to open in 2023. However, the plan was scrapped in early 2024 due to increased construction and borrowing costs, as well as the lack of external grant funding. In the wake of the World Cup exit, England's form dropped as the team struggled in a series of
friendlies to end the year including a 2–1 defeat by Germany at
Wembley Stadium on 9 November 2019. The game set a new record attendance for an England women's match at 77,768, becoming the second-biggest crowd for a women's game on English soil after the
2012 Olympic final which was watched by 80,203 at the same venue. The poor run continued into 2020 as England failed to defend their title at the
2020 SheBelieves Cup in March. Losses to the United States and
Spain made it seven defeats in 11 games, the team's worst stretch since 2003, mounting further pressure on Neville, who admitted he was personally responsible for England's "unacceptable" form amid increased media scrutiny. In April 2020, Neville announced he would step down as manager when his contract expired in July 2021. Originally his tenure would have extended to England's hosting of
UEFA Women's Euro 2021, but the tournament was postponed by a year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. An FA budget restructure at the end of 2020 saw the women's team become independent from the men's team for the first time, allowing more strategic freedom. In January 2021, Neville elected to resign early in order to take up the managerial position at
Inter Miami, the
Major League Soccer club founded by previous England men's captain
David Beckham. As it had already been agreed that incumbent
Netherlands manager
Sarina Wiegman would be appointed to the role from September 2021,
Hege Riise was named caretaker manager until then. Riise oversaw a 6–0 friendly win over
Northern Ireland in her first game in charge.
2021–present: Wiegman era On 14 August 2020, the FA announced it had reached a four-year deal with Netherlands manager Sarina Wiegman, who agreed to take over the team from September 2021, becoming the first non-British permanent manager. Entering as England began their
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification, Wiegman wanted the team to be ruthless, beginning a streak of large winning goal margins in both competitive and friendly matches, including a "humiliating" defeat of the Netherlands. England were drawn into Group A of
Women's Euro 2022 as hosts and won each of the group stage matches: 1–0 against
Austria at
Old Trafford in
Manchester; 8–0 against
Norway at the
Falmer Stadium in
Brighton and Hove (a new European Championship record score); and 5–0 against
Northern Ireland at
St Mary's Stadium in
Southampton. In the quarter-final, England recovered from being a goal behind against
Spain to win 2–1 in extra time at the Falmer Stadium. In the semi-final at
Bramall Lane in
Sheffield, they defeated
Sweden 4–0, the highlight of this match being a goal scored by
Alessia Russo with an "instinctive backheel" that was later nominated for the
FIFA Puskás Award. On 31 July, England defeated
Germany 2–1 in extra time in the
Women's Euro 2022 Final at Wembley, with
Chloe Kelly's 110th-minute close-range goal from a corner being the decider after goals in normal time by
Ella Toone for England and
Lina Magull for Germany. It was the team's first-ever major trophy and was the first major international championship won by an England team (women's or men's) since
1966. The final was watched by a crowd of 87,192, a record for either the women's or men's European Championship. Soon after Euro 2022, the England players wrote an open letter to
Rishi Sunak and
Liz Truss, the candidates in the ongoing
Conservative Party leadership election, in which they declared their "legacy and goal was to inspire a nation". They saw their victory "as only the beginning". The letter pointed out that only 63% of British girls could play football in school PE lessons and concluded: "We – the 23 members of the England Senior Women's EURO Squad – ask you to make it a priority to invest in girls' football in schools, so that every girl has the choice". With a further series of wins and draws including a friendly win against the United States at Wembley and qualifying for the 2023 Women's World Cup, the team ended 2022 having gone unbeaten for the calendar year. In December at
BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Mead became the first female footballer to win the
Sports Personality of the Year Award, with the team as a whole winning the
Team of the Year Award and Wiegman winning the
Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award. At
The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022, held in February 2023,
Mary Earps won the Best Women's Goalkeeper award; Wiegman won the Best Women's Coach award; and Mead, Williamson,
Lucy Bronze and
Keira Walsh were named to the World XI. As European champions, England contested the
2023 Women's Finalissima against South American champions Brazil in April 2023, which they won on penalties. The team then suffered their first defeat under Wiegman days later, losing to Australia, to end a 30-match unbeaten run. Following the Euro win and a series of high-profile wins in the months afterward, the England squad was reported to newly carry the aura of top teams that reflects winning confidence. At the
2023 World Cup, the Lionesses won their group, winning all three matches. England subsequently defeated
Nigeria,
Colombia and
Australia in the knockout stages to reach their first
World Cup final, where they lost 1–0 to
Spain. after winning Euro 2025 As defending champions, England repeated their victory at
Euro 2025 by defeating Spain in
the final, the first time England had won a major tournament away from home. They recovered from being a goal down to draw 1–1 in normal time, with several saves made by goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton. Kelly, scorer of the winning goal in the 2022 final, provided the cross for the equalising header by Russo, and then scored the decisive penalty as England won 3–1 on penalties. According to the BBC, having come from behind four times, the theme of the tournament was England being more resilient than any other team. ==Image==