England vs Germany: Selection headaches for Sarina Wiegman at Wembley

The showdown between two of Europe’s biggest football nations can be a marker of where the Lionesses must improve before the summer.

It has not been plain sailing since their Euros success, with disappointment in the Women’s Nations League and missing out on Olympic qualification.

They did reach the Women’s World Cup final in 2023 however, and won the first Women’s Finalissima a few months before.

But there has been growing criticism of England’s performances, which have dipped since the highs of 2022.

“We always want to [progress] faster but I think the game has increased, the level of the leagues in international football has increased and developed,” said Wiegman.

“That’s what we want, so that means we have to develop too. There’s competition in the team, with other players coming in, and more experienced players have to help the younger players so we are all on the same page.

“We just know where we want to get to in July.”

Germany are under new management in Christian Wuck, who took over the squad after they reached the semi-finals of the Olympic Games in Paris.

He said “both nations have developed well” since the Euro 2022 final and have “profited” from the progression of their domestic leagues.

“Germany has always been a powerful team, very physical and one that wants to play a possession game but doesn’t hesitate to play long balls either,” added England boss Wiegman.

“They have a new coach now, so they will probably do some other things too and that’s a challenge for us – a nice challenge.

“We don’t know exactly what they will do, but we’re prepared for everything. It’s really good for us to get that experience at the highest level.”