Williamson again for World Cup qualifiers as Wiegman denies contract is ‘distraction’ | England ladies’s soccer staff

Sarina Wiegman insisted that getting into the ultimate 17 months of her contract as England’s head coach was not a distraction, as she named her first squad of 2026 and recalled the fit-again captain, Leah Williamson, for March’s conferences with Ukraine and Iceland.

Williamson’s fellow Euro 2025 winners Hannah Hampton, Alex Greenwood and Lauren James have additionally been recalled after accidents, together with Jess Carter, who missed the Lionesses’ closing matches of 2025 to recuperate from the NWSL playoffs. However England are with out Ella Toone, Beth Mead, Niamh Charles, and Missy Bo Kearns by harm as they get their 2027 World Cup qualifying marketing campaign underneath means.

That conclusion of that event in Brazil marks the top of Wiegman’s contract. She has led England to historic success since taking cost in 2021 mentioned of her future: “No replace. It’s fairly far-off. We’re in conversations on a regular basis and we’re nonetheless very glad from each side. We’re now actually specializing in this qualification. We wish to qualify and the very best means is to try this in June [automatically, avoiding playoffs]. We’re going for that and let’s firstly try this.”

Requested how she would guarantee questions on her contract don’t distract the staff she mentioned: “There isn’t a distraction by any means. We wish to actually concentrate on this qualification. We’re actually excited to get began. I haven’t heard anybody in my staff or employees that has been occupied with that.”

England, in search of so as to add a primary world title to back-to-back European titles, start on impartial territory in Turkey in opposition to Ukraine. “It’s very unhappy and heartbreaking what Ukraine have skilled, and that we are able to’t play in Ukraine,” Wiegman mentioned. “However the various is to go to Turkey, which is much away, however I believe the lodging we have now, the coaching floor we have now, is an efficient resolution.”

England face Ukraine in Antalya on 3 March earlier than internet hosting Iceland at Nottingham Forest’s Metropolis Floor on 7 March, in a difficult-looking group that additionally contains the world champions, Spain, whom England have confronted prior to now two main finals.

The worldwide window is longer than common, with Fifa allowing nations to play three matches quite than the usual two, however Wiegman mentioned England opted in opposition to a pleasant on prime of their qualifiers. “My opinion, the FA opinion, is that, at this second, we expect it’s greatest to play two [matches], as a result of with the congested agenda and the quantity of video games, the gamers play a lot, so we didn’t wish to use the third one,” she mentioned. “And in a great world we’d have needed to play the primary recreation just a little bit earlier. It will have been greatest to play [the first qualifier] on the weekend, to have just a little bit extra time in between [the qualifiers], however we couldn’t management that.”

Wiegman has given a primary call-up to the London Metropolis Lionesses defender Poppy Pattinson and chosen Ellie Roebuck among the many goalkeepers as a substitute of Manchester Metropolis’s Khiara Keating. “The message [to the players] is that we wish to qualify as quickly as doable,” she mentioned. “It’s an enormous problem with the group we have now however I’m excited to see that.”