Women's World Cup 2023: Sarina Wiegman names squad with no place for injured Beth Mead, Fran Kirby and Leah Williamson

Sarina Wiegman has announced her 23-player squad for the Women's World Cup, and there is no place for Beth Mead. The 2022 Ballon d'Or Feminine runner-up has been omitted as she continues her recovery from an ACL injury. Ad Captain Leah Williamson, who led the Lionesses to Euro 2022 glory is also excluded after rupturing her ACL in a Women’s Super League match against Manchester United in April, while Fran Kirby also misses out through injury.

Women's World Cup'Absolutely gutted' Kirby to miss World Cup in another injury blow for England02/05/2023 AT 16:25 There was better news for Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze, who have both been included despite injury concerns of their own. Wiegman confirmed that Bright will take the captaincy role in Williamson's absence. Meanwhile, Wiegman has named six players that could all be playing in their first major senior tournament, with Niamh Charles, Laura Coombs, Lauren James, Esme Morgan, Katie Robinson and Katie Zelem all included.

Bethany England has also come back into the reckoning after a stellar first season with Tottenham to bolster the attacking ranks after scoring 12 goals in as many WSL games. After the announcement was made, Wiegman said: “I have huge belief in this squad and we’re very fortunate to be selecting a fantastic group of players to travel to Australia. “We know we will face tough challenges from strong teams, and we will have to be competitive from the first match on July 22.

We will do everything to be at our very best again this summer. “It is important the players get some well-deserved time to rest and recover over the next few weeks before we start the final preparations to get them ready. “We learned a lot of positive lessons about how to get the players