England and France to face-off in women's football international in April
England Lionesses travel to Caen for 9th April encounter, as coach Hege Riise gets another chance to look at potential Great Britain players for the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021
Football
Two of the top-ranked teams in women's national football will go head-to-head on the 9th April 2021, when France will host England, it was confirmed on Tuesday (16th March).
It'll be their first encounter since the 2018 SheBelieves cup in the United States, which England's Lionesses won. France are now at number 3 in the world rankings.
England are sixth in the world. Their Coach Hege Riise, who will also take charge of the Great Britain team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2021, told the English FA she was "looking forward to taking the team to play France."
“We all know they are one of the best in the world, but they will also recognise we are at a high level and will give them a competitive game. We have to use every opportunity to learn and improve, as individuals and as a group. With the Canada game also, this will be a great two matches and I am very happy for the players to have this opportunity.”
The English will also play a friendly international with Canada on Tuesday 13th April in Britain. Both of those games will be broadcast and livestreamed by the BBC for viewers in the U.K.
The two matches are also part of preparations for the UEFA Women's EURO Championships in 2022, to be hosted in England.
New Head Coach Sarina Wiegman and assistant Arjan Veurink will take over coaching the England team in September ahead of that tournament.