Your guide to England's Lionesses following the World Cup final ⚽

Following England's historic win at the UEFA Women's European Championships last year, it's safe to say both excitement and expectation was rife for Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses at this year's FIFA Women's World Cup - and it's fair to say they did us proud, making it all the way to the final!

Despite a number of injuries to key players, England were still one of the favourites to win the tournament, which was hosted out in Australia and New Zealand throughout July and August. After winning three out of three in the Group Stages, the Lionesses narrowly won their Round of 16 game on pens, and then beat Colombia in the Quarter-Final. Following a brilliant performance against hosts Australia in the Semi-Final, the Lionesses made it through to the World Cup final, before narrowly losing out to Spain. Here's your ultimate guide to England at the Women's World Cup.

When was the Women's World Cup final?

The 2023 tournament ended with the final game on Sunday 20th August.

The game, between finalists Spain and England, kicked off at 11am UK time.

Who won the Women's World cup final?

On Sunday 20th August 2023, Spain clinched its first World Cup title, with a 1-0 win against England.

When did the Women's World Cup start?

The 2023 tournament started on Thursday 20th July.

We asked these young fans at Astley and Buckshaw Junior Football Club in Lancashire to give us the lowdown on the big tournament:

Where was the Women's World Cup held?

Australia and New Zealand co-hosted the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, with games taking place in cities such as Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Hamilton and Wellington.

See all of the venues below:

Brisbane Stadium – Brisbane / Meaanjin, Australia

Dunedin Stadium – Dunedin / Ōtepoti, New Zealand

Eden Park – Auckland / Tāmaki Makaurau, New Zealand

Hindmarsh Stadium – Adelaide / Tarntanya, Australia

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium – Melbourne / Naarm, Australia

Perth Rectangular Stadium – Perth / Boorloo, Australia

Stadium Australia – Sydney / Gadigal, Australia

Sydney Football Stadium – Sydney / Gadigal, Australia

Waikato Stadium – Hamilton / Kirikiriroa, New Zealand

Wellington Regional Stadium – Wellington / Te Whanganui-a-Tara, New Zealand

Who is in England's Women's World Cup squad?

Manager Sarina Wiegman named her 23-player squad on 31st May 2023.

Unfortunately, a number of huge names missed out on the squad due to injuries, including the likes of Beth Mead, Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Steph Houghton.

Maya Le Tissier, Jess Park and Emily Ramsey and Lucy Staniforth were listed on the stand-by list and headed back to the UK when the tournament started.

See the full squad below:

Wiegman said of her squad choices: “I have huge belief in this squad and we’re very fortunate to be selecting a fantastic group of players to travel to Australia.

“We know we will face tough challenges from strong teams, and we will have to be competitive from the first match on 22 July. We will do everything to be at our very best again this summer.

“It is important the players get some well-deserved time to rest and recover over the next few weeks before we start the final preparations to get them ready.

“We learned a lot of positive lessons about how to get the players fit, fresh and ready from the EURO last summer and we know what we have to do to make sure we hit the ground running in the right way when the tournament starts.”

Who is the England Women's captain?

Following the news that Leah Williamson wouldn't be playing in the 2023 World Cup due to injury, defender Millie Bright was named captain for the tournament by manager Sarina Wiegman.

30-year-old Millie, who currently plays for Chelsea Ladies, first made her debut for the Lionesses in 2016.

Who is England Women's manager?

Former Dutch player Sarina Wiegman is the current manager of England Women.

The 53-year-old, who gained an impressive 104 caps for her country during her playing days, took over from former manager Phil Neville in September 2021.

Wiegman signed a four-year contract with England Women ahead of the the 2022 Euros, which was her first major tournament in charge of the Lionesses. She didn't get off to a bad start either, winning the tournament and going on a 30-game unbeaten run, which was ended in April 2023.

Who was in England's group at the Women's World Cup?

During the draw in October 2022, England found out they'd face Denmark, China and Haiti during the Group Stages.

When did England play at the Women's World Cup?

Group Stages:

Saturday 22nd July - England V Haiti - 10.30am (UK time) ✔️

Friday 28th July - England V Denmark - 9.30am (UK time) ✔️

Tuesday 1st August - China V England - 12pm (UK time) ✔️

Round of 16:

Monday 7th August - England V Nigeria - 8.30am (UK time) ✔️

Quarter-Final:

Saturday 12th August - England V Colombia - 11.30am (UK time) ✔️

Semi-Final:

Wednesday 16th August: Australia V England -11am (UK time) ✔️

Final:

Sunday 20th August: Spain V England - 11am (UK time) ✔️

Who aired the Women's World Cup?

Both BBC and ITV showed games from the FIFA Women's World Cup. See below the TV schedule for England's games.

Group Stages:

Saturday 22nd July - England V Haiti - 10.30am (UK time) - ITV

Friday 28th July - England V Denmark - 9.30am (UK time) - BBC

Tuesday 1st August - China V England - 12pm (UK time) - ITV

Round of 16:

Monday 7th August - England V Nigeria - 8.30am (UK time) - BBC

Quarter-Final:

Saturday 12th August - England V Colombia - 11.30am (UK time) - ITV

Semi-Final:

Wednesday 16th August: Australia V England -11am (UK time) - BBC

Final:

Sunday 20th August: Spain V England - 11am (UK time) - BBC and ITV

England scores at the World Cup:

Saturday 22nd July: England V Haiti: 1-0 (Goalscorer - England: Georgia Stanway)

Friday 28th July: England V Denmark: 1-0 (Goalscorer - England: Lauren James)

Tuesday 1st August: China V England: 1-6 (Goalscorers - England: Alessia Russo, Lauren Hemp, Lauren James x2, Chloe Kelly, Rachel Daly. China: Wang Shang)

Monday 7th August: England V Nigeria: 0-0 (England win 4-2 on penalties)

Saturday 12th August: England V Colombia: 2-1 (Goalscorers - England: Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo. Colombia: Leicy Santos).

Wednesday 16th August: Australia V England: 1-3 (Goalscorers - England: Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo. Australia: Sam Kerr).

Sunday 20th August: Spain V England: 1-0 (Goalscorer - Spain: Olga Carmona).

Women's World Cup 2023 format:

For the first time in the competition's history, a massive 32 nations took part in the 2023 Women's World Cup, replicating the same format used for the men's World Cup from 1998 to 2022.

The 32 teams were split into eight groups of four, with each team within the group playing each other once.

The top two teams from each group progressed into the Round of 16 knockout round, before the Quarter-Final, Semi-Final and Final.

Which teams were in the Women's World Cup 2023?

The draw for the Group Stage took place in October 2022.

Group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Switzerland

Group B: Australia, Ireland, Nigeria, Canada

Group C: Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia, Japan

Group D: England, Denmark, China, Haiti

Group E: USA, Vietnam, Netherlands, Portugal

Group F: France, Jamaica, Brazil, Panama

Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy, Argentina

Group H: Germany, Morocco, Columbia, Korea Republic

Which teams were in the Round of 16 at the Women's World Cup?

Following the group stages, a number of shock exits took place, including teams such as Brazil, Germany and Italy being eliminated, failing to get out of their groups.

See all of the Round of 16 games below:

Switzerland V Spain - Spain progressed

Netherlands V South Africa - Netherlands progressed

Japan V Norway - Japan progressed

Sweden V USA - Sweden progressed

England V Nigeria - England progressed

Australia V Denmark - Australia progressed

Colombia v Jamaica - Colombia progressed

France V Morocco - France progressed

Which teams were in the Quarter-Final at the Women's World Cup?

Following the Round of 16, which saw a huge upset when USA were eliminated, eight teams made it into the Quarter-Finals.

See all of the Quarter-Final games below:

Spain V Netherlands - Spain progressed

Japan V Sweden - Sweden progressed

England V Colombia - England progressed

Australia V France - Australia progressed

Which teams were in the Semi-Final at the Women's World Cup?

See all of the Semi-Final games below:

Spain V Sweden - Spain progressed

Australia V England - England progressed

Which teams are in the Final at the Women's World Cup?

After one month of football, 32 teams were narrowed down to just two!

Spain V England

The tournament kicked off on 20th July, with the final taking place on 20th August.

We're so proud of you, Lionesses! ⚽

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