Favourites? England will head into next year’s World Cup down under as the reigning European champions
(Picture: The FA via Getty Images)England’s preparations for next year’s Women’s World Cup have been boosted after they secured their preferred training base in Australia.
The Lionesses will stay at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the coastal town of Terrigal, which is about an hour north of Sydney, and train at the Central Coast Stadium in nearby Gosford.
This is the first time that a Women’s World Cup has had dedicated training bases and countries had to submit their preferred options to FIFA after the draw in October.
England and head coach Sarina Wiegman’s No1 choice was to stay in Terrigal as it ideal for their matches.
The World Cup will take place in both New Zealand and Australia, but the Lionesses’ draw means it was best for them to be on the east coast of the latter.
England kick off their group stage campaign on July 22 in Brisbane, before playing games in Sydney and Adelaide.
Should they progress, all their knockout matches will be in Brisbane or Sydney.
Staying in Terrigal will reduce England’s travel time. The benefit of that will be most felt if the Lionesses, who are the reigning European champions, win their group.
They would have to play their last-16 match in Brisbane, which is around 500 miles away, but from the quarter-finals onwards they would play in Sydney, which is only 50 miles south of Terrigal.
If England do not win their group they will play their last-16 match in Sydney and their quarter-final in Brisbane.
