Wiegman says England “will manage minutes” against Ghana

When England face Ghana on Tuesday evening, Southampton’s St. Mary’s stadium will play host. It was a poignant choice for the final game of 2025 and the final match of England’s celebratory ‘homecoming series’ – in September 2021, the ground hosted head coach Sarina Wiegman’s first game in charge.

That game, an 8-0 win in a world cup qualifier against North Macedonia, signalled the start of an era that has seen the Lionesses win two major trophies and change the landscape of women’s football in the UK.

Speaking from the stadium before facing Ghana, Wiegman was uncharacteristically sentimental. “Time flew! It feels like ages ago, that first game, but I still have a good memory of that, it was a very nice start,” she reflected, adding that “it’s nice to be back [in Southampton].”

“Tomorrow already 24,000 tickets sold which is incredible, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Since that day in 2021, England have won the Euros (twice) and their head coach has picked up a slew of individual awards, capped off with the 2025 Johan Cruyff award for Best Women’s Coach at last September’s Ballon d’Or ceremony. Asked where this year will rank compared to other successful years, Wiegman said “that’s a hard question! It’s been an incredible year again….”

Thinking back to four months ago, she went on to discuss England’s victorious European Championship last summer, focusing on the cohesion of her team. “On the pitch, it was insane how the games developed, but off the pitch it was really calm, and I think I enjoyed it more than I did all the other tournaments.”

While looking back formed a large part of Wiegman’s last pre-match conference of 2025, there was also room for looking forward. The head coach’s contract is due to end following the 2027 world cup, and off the back of a very successful four-year tenure, there are rumours of an extension.

Asked directly if discussions have taken place, Wiegman affirmed that she and the relevant parties “haven’t had clear conversations.” She nevertheless admitted that “I’m still really enjoying the job, I think the team is still enjoying that I’m around which is really really important too, so let’s see what the future will bring. I’m very relaxed about it.”

England “will manage minutes” against Ghana

Following their 8-0 demolition of China on Saturday, there was slight criticism that Wiegman did not rotate her team more; while Anna Moorhouse made a debut in goal and the new pairing of Maya Le Tissier and Esme Morgan at the back was given another test, familiar faces were preferred in midfield and up front.

Wiegman admitted that there “will be changes” for the game against Ghana, adding that “we will manage minutes.”

Pressed on how club managers may be feeling about their players’ load management ahead of important league and Champions League games, the head coach spoke strongly: “There’s always connections with the managers, there’s always calls before and after camp. Of course I’m very aware of the schedule.”

She added that “we don’t have that many opportunities to play friendlies, after this camp we only have eight more camps to go until the world cup – of course we have to qualify first, we know that – so we want to use the time together as much as possible too.”

England’s game with Ghana will kick off at 19:00 GMT on Tuesday December 2nd.