England closed out a remarkable year with a 2-0 friendly win over Ghana at St Mary's Stadium, the ground where Sarina Wiegman, England manager, started her tenure.
Given the 8-0 victory and packed out Wembley against China on Saturday. This game fell a little flat as they came to the end of their homecoming series of international friendlies ahead of World Cup qualifiers. This game felt a little like a hangover from the previous game, like it was stuck on, as they needed to play another match.
Lucia Kendall, a Southampton Academy graduate, marked her own “homecoming” by scoring the opening goal just six minutes into the match.
Alessia Russo sealed the victory late on by converting a stoppage-time penalty.
It was a game where fans alike thought England would get loads of goals, but with heavy squad rotation to manage players' minutes and prevent injuries, especially given it was only a friendly, it wasn't as goal-tastic as first thought.
England dominated throughout, but struck the woodwork on four occasions and created numerous chances, but could not capitalise.
Kendall started only her second senior game for England in her home town. She capitalised on a loose clearance in the penalty box to put England ahead after six minutes.
She nearly added a second when her header from a corner hit the crossbar.
Lucy Bronze called her “one of England’s future stars.”
Though less than 20 minutes in, Chloe Kelly grabbed her right knee after an attempted cross from that wing was blocked. She tried to play on, but went to ground and was replaced by Beth Mead as a precautionary measure, ending a once-in-a-blue-moon start.
While the scoreline might not reflect it, it was a dominant performance: they produced 24 shots to Ghana's three. The woodwork repeatedly denied them through Missy Bo Kearns, Aggie Beever-Jones and Maya Le Tissier.
But during the significant rotation, she made seven changes to give opportunities to younger players. This might have led to a lack of gelling or composure in the final act.
Russo nearly scored on her first touch and later won and scored a penalty after a VAR-approved handball decision, similar to that in Saturday's game.
In all four of these international friendlies, England have been given a penalty in each bar; in this game against Ghana, all have been converted by Georgia Stanway.
Ghana, while they did concede two goals, it could have been more, and they provided stronger resistance, especially against a side significantly higher ranked than they are.
Their coach, Kim Bjorkengren, said: “We can be really proud… We’re moving in the right direction.”
Goalkeeper Cynthia Konlan Fiindib made several key saves to keep the scoreline down.
Back in 2021, the under-23 programme was relaunched and became pivotal to developing young talent, Kendall being a prime example of its success, with other players getting more minutes in an England shirt, including Taylor Hinds, Le Tissier and Kearns.
Sarina Wiegman said post-match: “I hoped we would have scored more… If we had taken the chances better, it would have been more than this.”
Lucia Kendall spoke on the game: “It was a really special moment for me to be able to do it here where I grew up… The emotions took over.”
England now shifts its focus to its 2027 World Cup qualification campaign, which begins next year. The emergence of young talents, combined with the team’s strong performances throughout 2025, sets a promising foundation for the future.
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