England vs Haiti, Women’s World Cup 2023: When is it and how to watch on TV
It is less than a year since the Lionesses sent the nation wild by lifting the European Championship trophy. That instantly made them one of the big favourites for World Cup glory this summer in Australia and New Zealand, with the tournament due to get under way on July 20.
England have never won the biggest prize in the women’s game, the furthest they’ve got being the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019, so there is a lot of anticipation ahead of Sarina Wiegman’s side’s opener.
What and when is it?
England face Haiti in their World Cup opener on July 22 at 10.30am (BST).
Where is the match being played?
The Lionesses get their tilt at the title under way at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
How to watch
England’s first match of the tournament will be on ITV after a television blackout of the tournament was avoided in the UK after the BBC and ITV agreed a deal to show live coverage of every match.
It is not known whether the BBC and ITV increased their earlier offer but an agreement understood to be worth £7-7.9 million has been reached for the two free-to-air channels to broadcast all 64 matches. The games are split across the two networks.
Both BBC One and ITV1 will show the final on August 20 live.
Who are Haiti?
The Caribbean islanders made it to their first ever World Cup thanks to beating Chile 2-1 in an intercontinental playoff in February.
What is Sarina Wiegman saying?
The England coach says her side will travel Down Under on July 5 in confident mood, having selected her 23-woman squad earlier this month.
“I have huge belief in this squad and we’re very fortunate to be selecting a fantastic group of players to travel to Australia. We know we will face tough challenges from strong teams, and we will have to be competitive from the first match on 22 July,” the Dutch coach said.
“We will do everything to be at our very best again this summer. It is important the players get some well-deserved time to rest and recover over the next few weeks before we start the final preparations to get them ready.
“We learned a lot of positive lessons about how to get the players fit, fresh and ready from the Euros last summer and we know what we have to do to make sure we hit the ground running in the right way when the tournament starts.”
What are Haiti saying?
Haiti midfielder Danielle Etienne told ESPN after the side made it to the tournament: “There’s a lot of unhappiness in the country and football is the joy...we want that for the country as a whole, to have a breath of fresh air and kind of step aside from anything going on.”
Who else is in England’s group?
Along with Haiti Kiera Walsh and Co face Denmark and China in Group D.
Wiegman had this to say about the tricky pool. “It’s an exciting group,” the Lionesses manager said. “We know Denmark very well, China is a very good opponent too. They are in transition a little bit, or they were in transition.
“At the Olympics they were struggling, they have a new coach and won the Asian Cup. We don’t know the other one yet. Three very different opponents with a different style of play.”
What do the other World Cup groups look like?
Group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Switzerland
Group B: Australia, Ireland, Nigeria, Canada
Group C: Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia, Japan
Group E: United States, Vietnam, Netherlands, Portugal
Group F: France, Jamaica, Brazil, Panama
Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy, Argentina
Group H: Germany, Morocco, Colombia, South Korea
What are the fixtures?
Who is in England’s squad?
Goalkeepers: Mary Earps (Manchester United), Hannah Hampton (Aston Villa), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City)
Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Barcelona), Jess Carter (Chelsea), Niamh Charles (Chelsea), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Esme Morgan (Manchester City), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Laura Coombs (Manchester City), Jordan Nobbs (Aston Villa), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Keira Walsh (Barcelona), Katie Zelem (Manchester United)
Forwards: Rachel Daly (Aston Villa), Bethany England (Tottenham Hotspur), Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Lauren James (Chelsea), Chloe Kelly (Manchester City), Katie Robinson (Brighton & Hove Albion), Alessia Russo (Manchester United)
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