England will welcome Austria to Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on Saturday 27 November (12.30pm KO) for their penultimate 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier of the year.
The Lionesses began the road to the finals in Australia and New Zealand earlier this month in convincing fashion with an 8-0 home win against North Macedonia followed by a 10-0 victory away to Luxembourg. The Austria fixture promises to be a tough test, with the visitors to Sunderland having also qualified for next summer’s UEFA EURO to be played in England.
The north-east fixture will have added edge for a number of players with Steph Houghton, Jill Scott, Lucy Bronze, Demi Stokes, Carly Telford, Lucy Staniforth, Jordan Nobbs and Beth Mead all representing Sunderland early in their careers. This homecoming fixture comes after England take on Northern Ireland at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 23 October, with tickets available via thefa.com/tickets.
Head coach Sarina Wiegman said: “I am well aware how important the north-east of England has been in the development of so many of our squad, and in particular Sunderland. I am delighted we can play in such an impressive stadium and in front of fans who are so passionate about the game. I know it will be a very special day and I hope we can rise to the occasion.”
After the Austria fixture, England will play another home fixture against Latvia on 30 November to close out the year. These final fixtures of 2021 will be crucial as Wiegman’s squad look to consolidate on the strong start to World Cup qualifying and continue preparations for EURO 2022.
While this will be the Lionesses’ first fixture at Sunderland, the senior men’s side have played at the stadium three times in 1999, 2003 and 2016, while the ground has also staged men’s U21 and U20 fixtures.
Tickets for the match will go on sale exclusively to My England Football members from 12pm on Thursday 30 September. You can sign-up for free to become a My England Football member via https://www.englandfootball.com/members. General sale will begin from midday on Friday 1 October, with tickets available on thefa.com/tickets.