Heartbroken England trio who missed World Cup run and their returns from injury

05 September 2023 , 12:19

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Fran Kirby, Leah Williamson and Beth Mead all missed the 2023 Women's World Cup through injury (Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

England came very close to winning a first ever World Cup this summer.

Not only did Sarina Wiegman's team reach a maiden final, before losing 1-0 to Spain, they did so without a trio of key players. Inspirational captain Leah Williamson missed the entire tournament after rupturing her ACL last season during Arsenal's 1-0 defeat to Man Utd in the WSL.

Her club mate Beth Mead was also absent from England's quest for glory Down Under after suffering a similar injury in the reverse fixture. The Sports Personality of the Year winner did make a late bid to make the squad, but was ultimately unsuccessful.

And Fran Kirby, a key figure who played in every game at Euro 2022, also missed out due to needing surgery on a knee problem that troubled her for a sizeable portion of last season. The Chelsea star failed to make the final 23-player squad with Man Utd's Ella Toone taking her place in the starting XI for the tournament.

But with England facing a Nations League double header this month and new WSL season on the horizon, how close are the trio to a return?

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Here's when we might see each player back on a football pitch.

Beth Mead

It is now 10 months since we saw Beth Mead in action. The UEFA Player of the Tournament at Euro 2022 hobbled off in the closing seconds of a 3-2 WSL defeat to Man Utd.

Only days later it was confirmed she had ruptured her ACL. But Mead is now closing in on a return, overcoming her disappointment of missing out on the World Cup.

She confirmed to Mirror Football back in July that she was "pretty much" back in full training. Mead then last week said she was simply "waiting to get some minutes" on the BBC's Behind The Goals podcast and that she is ready to go.

Beth Mead of Arsenal receives medical treatment during the FA Women's Super League match between Arsenal and Manchester United (2022 Getty Images)

Arsenal are in Champions League action on Wednesday against Swedish side Linkoping in their first qualifying tie. Even if she starts from the bench, some minutes for Mead appear likely.

Assuming she comes through that unscathed, a return for England against Scotland in a few weeks' time at Sunderland's Stadium of Light, is not unrealistic.

Leah Williamson

While we expect to see Mead back in an England shirt before 2023 is out, the chances of that for fellow Gooner Williamson are remote. The Lionesses' skipper suffered her injury in April playing for Arsenal away at United.

England captain Leah Williamson, missed the World Cup through injury, after winning Euro 2022 and the Finalissima as captain (Photo by Catherine Ivill - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Days later she confirmed her World Cup dream was over in an emotional social media post. Although she is still at a relatively early recovery stage, when compared with Mead, Williamson is thought to be making solid progress.

"[Recovery] is going well. Really well actually," she said last month. "It’s an annoying injury because it's so slow but I’m doing really well."

Williamson did make the trip out to Australia to support her England colleagues during the World Cup and was in attendance for their final three games, first in the crowd for the 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia. While there she continued her rehabilitation, with social media posts showing her performing a workout on an exercise bike.

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With the standard return time from an injury like this for professional footballers ranging from nine months to a year, we'll have to wait to 2024 to see Williamson taking to the field again.

Fran Kirby

Of their injured trio England arguably missed Fran Kirby the most during their World Cup campaign. In games against Haiti and Nigeria as well as the final against Spain, the Lionesses struggled to create clear-cut chances on a consistent basis.

Kirby was the glue that held together attacks during the Euros last summer. Her intricate attacking build-up play which proved crucial to winning a first major tournament and without her the Lionesses lacked creative flair at times during the finals.

Fran Kirby returned against Roma on Sunday in a pre-season friendly

Chelsea managed to win the double despite Kirby also missing the final part of the season. But both England and Blues' fans will be pleased to know she is back on the field, stepping up her return from the surgery. Kirby should be able to feature in both the Nations League games against Scotland and Netherlands, and the opening WSL weekend, barring any further setbacks.

In Chelsea's opening pre-season friendly at the weekend, Kirby played 77 minutes of a 3-2 victory over Roma. While the Blues No.14 is still making her way back to full fitness, she looked sharp against the Italian Champions and smartly set-up Guro Reiten for the opener.

The Lioness will now be part of the Blues squad that heads to Portugal for a pre-season training camp as she builds up her match practice. England boss Wiegman likes Kirby and if she continues to build her fitness up over the coming weeks we can expect her to be named in September's international squad.

The question then will be whether she can usurp Toone from the starting line-up.

Jack Lacey-Hatton