England confirm double-header friendly with Three Lions and Lionesses to both face Australia

Sarina Wiegman’s side will use the fixture as a warm-up for their World Cup campaign

(The FA via Getty Images)

The FA have announced that England will face Australia in two friendly matches later this year - with both Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions and Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses facing their counterparts from the opposite side of the globe.

In April, it will be the Euro 2022 champions who face the Matildas, with the match taking place at Brentford’s Community Stadium on Tuesday 11th.

Later in the year, the men’s side will face the Socceroos at Wembley, that game taking place on Friday 13 October.

The women’s fixtures will be a designated fixture to raise awareness and funds for the Alzheimer’s Society, who the FA partnered with last year. Southgate’s men’s team played Switzerland in March 2022 as another international game dedicated to the cause, playing the second half without players’ names on the backs of their shirts.

With England’s women’s team preparing for the World Cup this year, the fixture against Australia - ranked No12 in the world, with the Lionesses No4 - will serve as vital preparation for the finals.

Head coach Wiegman said: “We are always looking for different challenges and we are really happy to play two more strong non-European teams in Brazil and Australia in April. They will both be competitive at the World Cup, and Australia will give everything to impress because they are going into a home tournament with big expectation. They will want to show they are in good shape for the finals.

“It will also be very special to play them at Brentford as it was a great Euro 2022 stadium. We want to create more excitement for our fans as we prepare for what we hope will be another memorable summer.”

(The FA via Getty Images)

The Lionesses have been in Arnold Clark Cup action recently, beating South Korea and Italy and still to play Belgium on 22 February.

On the men’s game, Southgate added: “This will be a good challenge for us as Australia performed well at the World Cup despite against having four tough opponents.

“I imagine there will be a strong Aussie contingent in London for both games. We all know the sporting rivalry between our two countries and that alone will add an extra edge.”