England return to the Pinatar Arena in Murcia, Spain to take on Norway in their final international of 2022 days after beating Japan 4-0 at the same venue.
The Lionesses will be looking to maintain their unbeaten record this calendar year and build towards next summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand. But Norway are historically one of the strongest nations in the women’s game and although they have a poor record against England in recent years, manager Sarina Wiegman is expecting a tough game.
The Norwegians are also now managed by Hege Riise who had a spell as England interim manager before Wiegman arrived. Let’s take a look at the opponents for the Lionesses 2022 swansong.
Who will provide the threat for Norway?
The Grasshoppers squad is packed full of WSL talent, captained by Chelsea defender Maren Mjelde. Mjelde however misses out against the Lionesses, still recovering from a hamstring injury and missing the Blues recent win at Manchester United.
Arsenal star Frida Maanum however will be involved and as fans of the WSL will know, she comes into this international break on a hot run of form for her club. However, Riise does have to make do without two of her best players with Ada Hegerberg and Caroline Graham Hansen, who scored the winner against England in 2019, both out injured.
Norway’s international record
Norway are one of only four teams to win FIFA Women’s World Cup, triumphing in the 1995 tournament held in Sweden. They beat Germany 2-0 in the final thanks to goals from current manager Riise and Marianne Pettersen. Riise also won the Golden Ball award awarded to the tournament’s best player.
Norway were also twice European champions in 1987 and 1993. However, in recent years the Grasshoppers have often had their major tournament dreams ended by the Lionesses. England knocked out Norway at both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, as well as thrashing them 8-0 during the group stage of Euro 2022.
That was Norway’s record defeat in international football and a further 1-0 defeat to Austria saw them exit the European Championships at the first hurdle for the second time in-a-row. Head coach Martin Sjogren was replaced by Riise in the aftermath of their disappointing showing.
Previous game
While England were beating Japan 4-0 on Friday evening, Norway suffered a 2-1 defeat against France in a friendly.
Norway went a goal down early on thanks to Kadidiatou Diani but equalised through Roma forward Sophie Roman Haug. However they suffered late disappointment when West Ham ’s Viviane Asseyi came off the bench to score the winner in the 83rd minute.
Where can I watch?
You can catch England’s clash with Norway live on Tuesday night on ITV4, with kick-off at 7pm with coverage underway at 6:15 GMT. Host Laura Woods will be joined by Lionesses' legend Karen Carney and Ian Wright.
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