19 July 2023 , 12:57
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The venue for England's inaugural UEFA Women’s Nations League clash has been confirmed, with the Lionesses set to go head to head with Scotland at Sunderland's Stadium of Light.
Sarina Wiegman's side are currently stationed in Brisbane, where they will get their Women's World Cup campaign underway against Haiti this weekend. England are among the favourites to take home the the trophy, with the Final set to be held in Sydney on August 20.
But regardless of how they fare Down Under this summer, the Lionesses will be back in competitive action on home soil on September 22, when they take on Scotland in the north-east. UEFA unveiled plans to introduce a Women's Nations League last year, with the tournament set to be linked to European qualification.
Within each league, national teams will compete in groups of three or four, with each team playing one home match and one away match against all the other teams in their group. At the end of each group stage, league rankings will be established to allow teams to be promoted or relegated for the next phase of the competition.
The best four teams at the end of the group stage will contest the Nations League finals. The finals will be played in single-leg knockout matches, with semi-finals, a third-place match and a final.
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The Stadium of Light will welcome the Lionesses for the 7.45pm kick-off against Scotland, meaning a return to the venue for the first time since November 2021 when Ellen White scored the only goal in a 1-0 defeat of Austria.
World Cup duo Lucy Bronze and Jordan Nobbs, along with the likes of Steph Houghton, Jill Scott, Demi Stokes, Carly Telford, Lucy Staniforth and Beth Mead all spent part of their early careers at Sunderland.
England last played at the Stadium of Light in November 2021To accommodate the fixture, Sunderland and Cardiff City have moved their EFL Championship fixture at the Stadium of Light from Saturday September 23 to Sunday September 24.
Scotland have not faced England since 2019, when the Lionesses won 2-1 thanks to goals from Nikita Parris and Ellen White. Pedro Martínez Losa's side, who are ranked 23rd in the world, have not qualified for this summer’s World Cup but do have a number of hugely talented players in their arsenal, including Real Madrid mdifielder Caroline Weir.
After the Scotland match, England will travel to Utrecht to take on the Netherlands on Tuesday, September 26.