The Lionesses have finally lost a match under manager Sarina Wiegman.
Women’s World Cup hosts Australia defeated England 2-0 in wet and windy conditions at Brentford’s Community Stadium.
Sam Kerr opened the scoring for Australia in the 32nd minute, pouncing on Leah Williamson’s header back to England goalkeeper Mary Earps to dink the ball into the goal.
The Lionesses looked out of sorts for the remainder of the first half, but appeared to be hitting their stride in the second.
They couldn’t capitalise on their domination of possession, however, and Australia scored on the counter-attack in the 67th minute.
Kerr was involved again, sending in a cross from the right onto the head of Charlotte Grant. The ball took a big deflection off Williamson and wrong footed Earps to nestle in the back of the net.
The Lionesses controlled possession for the rest of the match, but couldn’t find a way back into the match.
How long had England’s unbeaten run under Sarina Wiegman been?
England were undefeated for an impressive 30 matches before their loss against Australia, winning against top teams such as Spain, Germany, the US and Brazil.
Their most recent defeat prior to this came against Canada for Phil Neville’s last game in charge in April 2021.
The current record unbeaten streak in international football is currently held by the United States women’s team, who went undefeated for 44 matches from January 2019 to July 2021.
The record in men’s international football is held by Italy, who didn’t lose in 37 matches from September 2018 to October 2021.
Will England’s loss against Australia be a concern before the Women’s World Cup?
England’s defeat to Australia came in their last match currently scheduled before the Women’s World Cup.
The Lionesses start their campaign on July 22 against Haiti, with Denmark and China also in their group.
While it will be disappointing for England to have lost their unbeaten streak heading into the tournament, Wiegman may see it as a valuable learning experience for her team.
It must also be noted that a number of key players were out with injury for the match against Australia, including Millie Bright, Alex Greenwood and Fran Kirby.
The Lionesses must be able to take lessons from their game against Australia to help them become an even more formidable opponent at the World Cup.
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