England vs Brazil - Women's Finalissima preview: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction
England and Brazil are to meet in the first ever Women’s Finalissima this week, a standalone game pitting the reigning champions of Europe against South America's reigning champions.
The Lionesses won Euro 2022 last summer, their first major international trophy, while Brazil won the 2022 edition of the Copa America Femenina for an eighth continental triumph.
This game at Wembley, for which tickets quickly sold out, is the result of renewed cooperation between UEFA and CONMEBOL. The first men’s Finalissima based on the same premise took place in June 2022 between Italy and Argentina and was won by the latter.
The most recent encounter between England and Brazil ended in a 2-1 win for the Selecao at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium in 2019, a troubling period of poor results for the Lionesses in the aftermath of that summer’s impressive World Cup showing.
England had earlier won a SheBelieves Cup match 2-1 against Brazil at the start of 2019 and also prevailed 1-0 in a home friendly in October 2018. The pair had never met before then - that being said, an England-heavy Great Britain side did also narrowly beat Brazil at the 2012 Olympics.
In the remainder of the April international break, England will go on to face Australia in a friendly while Brazil will meet Germany in games that should test both teams ahead of the World Cup in summer.
Where to watch England vs Brazil on TV/live stream
- When is kick off? Thursday 6 April, 19:45 (BST)
- Where is the match being played? Wembley Stadium, London
- TV channel/live stream? ITV1/ITVX (UK), ViX (US)
- What time does TV coverage start in the UK? 19:30 (BST)
- Referee? Stephanie Frappart (FRA)
England team news
England's full squad trained on Tuesday morning. But Millie Bright was earlier forced to withdraw after not fully recovering from a recent knee injury suffered while playing for Chelsea in the Champions League. Arsenal's Lotte Wubben-Moy was added to the group in her place.
England also remain without Fran Kirby and Beth Mead due to injury, while Katie Zelem and Ebony Salmon were left out by Sarina Wiegman despite being at the Arnold Clark Cup in February.
Brazil team news
Brazil got a big boost when living legend Marta returned to action from an ACL injury at the SheBelieves Cup in February, but the 37-year-old had to pull out of this squad due to a thigh complaint. Duda Santos was called up as a replacement.
Duda Sampaio has also withdrawn through injury and has been replaced by Luana.
Ludmila is sidelined with an ACL injury suffered last month and will miss the World Cup.
England vs Brazil score prediction
England remain unbeaten in 29 games since Sarina Wiegman took charge in the autumn of 2021, winning 25 of them, and show no signs of slowing down.
The Lionesses are by now well used to playing in front of a huge Wembleycrowd and have beaten the United States under the famous arch since their Euro 2022 success. That partisan home supoprt has also been proven to be so effective each time before.
The big disappointment is that Marta, now 37, has had to sit this one out.