Ashleigh Plumptre played alongside Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly and Georgia Stanway in the youth stages of her international career but on Monday she will line up against them as her Nigeria team take on Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup.
Plumptre won 30 caps across England’s youth teams but never received a call-up to the senior squad. She was cleared by Fifa to switch allegiances to Nigeria, for whom she is eligible to play through her paternal grandfather, and made her debut for the country in 2022. The 25-year-old defender attributes the reason behind the switch to her younger sister.
