Leah Williamson and Rafaelle ready for England and Brazil’s Finalissima clash

Sarina Wiegman said she was “disappointed and surprised” to hear that Brazil does not have under-15, under-16, under-20 and under-23 women’s teams and stressed the importance of building structures and foundations as the key to success.

Wiegman’s Lionesses welcome Brazil to Wembley on Thursday for the first women’s Finalissima between the champions of Europe and the champions of South America, as the two nations prepare for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand that begins on 20 July.

In a joint press conference, Brazil manager Pia Sundhage, who scored the first goal in the first women’s match held at Wembley in 1989, exposed how much Brazil needs to do if it is serious about hosting the 2027 World Cup.

“It’s great when you get to host such a great event,” said Sundhage. “Right now, if we have World Cup 2027 in Brazil it is not just the weeks or month of the World Cup, but it is about taking care of what comes before and after. In order to do that it’s time that Brazil steps up. Because right now we have no U15 national team, or U16, we maybe have U17 and right now the U20 aren’t playing.

“Girls, or boys, that want to watch the game want to represent Brazil … If you’re 15 years old you can do that in England, you can do that in Sweden, but you can’t do that in Brazil … You have to do the right thing, you have to put in the structure and organisation. I hope that will happen as there are so many good players, there’s such a good heart, everyone is playing football on the beaches, all over the place, you just have to have some sort of structure.”

Wiegman replied: “I hope they get as soon as possible, U15, U16, U20, U23 teams, because Brazil needs that. I’ve been there, I’ve seen lots of girls, I’m just a little bit