LIONESSES, THE ENGLAND NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM

Today, The Weasleys and The Grandma have visited Wembley Stadium in London, and they have met the history of the England women's national football team, the Lionesses, who are now participating in the FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, that has started today in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau.

Before, they have practised All, Both and Neither.

More information: Both & Neither

The England women's national football team, (nicknamed the Lionesses) has been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first international match in November 1972 against Scotland.

Although most national football teams represent a sovereign state, England is permitted by FIFA statutes, as a member of the United Kingdom's Home Nations, to maintain a national side that competes in all major tournaments, with the exception of the Women's Olympic Football Tournament.

England have qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup seven times, reaching the quarter-finals in 1995, 2007 and 2011, finishing third in 2015 and fourth in 2019.

Since 2019, England, as the highest-ranked Home Nation, have been able to qualify an Olympic team on behalf of Great Britain; other British players may be selected in the event of qualification.

They reached the final of the UEFA Women's Championship in 1984 and 2009, and won in 2022, marking the first time since 1966 that any England senior football team had won a major championship.

The success of the men's national football team at the 1966 FIFA World Cup led to an upsurge of interest in football from women within England. 

The Women's Football Association (WFA) was established in 1969 as an attempt to organise the women's game. That same year, Harry Batt formed an independent English team that competed in the Fédération Internationale Européenne de Football Féminine (FIEFF) European Cup.  Batt's team also participated in two FIEFF World Cups held in Italy (1970) and Mexico (1971).

Following an UEFA recommendation in 1972 for national associations to incorporate the women's game, the Football Association (FA) later that year rescinded its ban on women playing on English Football League grounds. Shortly after, Eric Worthington was tasked by the WFA to assemble an official women's national team. England competed in its first international match against Scotland in Greenock on 18 November 1972, 100 years to the month after the first men's international.

On 31 July, England defeated Germany 2-1 in extra time in the Women's Euro 2022 Final at Wembley, with Chloe Kelly's 110th-minute close-range goal from a corner being the decider after goals in normal time by Ella Toone for England and Lina Magull for Germany. It was the team's first-ever major trophy and was the first major international championship won by an England team (men's or women's) since 1966. The final was watched by a crowd of 87,192, a record for either the men's or women's European Championship.

More information: England Football

Wembley Stadium  is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. 

The stadium hosts major football matches including home matches of the England national football team, and the FA Cup Final. 

Wembley Stadium is owned by the governing body of English football, the Football Association (the FA), whose headquarters are in the stadium, through its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). With 90,000 seats, it is the largest stadium in the UK and the second-largest stadium in Europe.

Designed by Populous and Foster and Partners, the stadium is crowned by the 134-metre-high Wembley Arch which serves aesthetically as a landmark across London as well as structurally, with the arch supporting over 75% of the entire roof load. 

The stadium was built by Australian firm Multiplex at a cost of £798 million (£1.27 billion today). Two partially retractable roof structures over the east and west ends of the stadium can be opened to allow sunlight and aid pitch growth.

In addition to England home games and the FA Cup final, the stadium also hosts other major games in English football, including the season-opening FA Community Shield, the League Cup final, the FA Cup semi-finals, the Football League Trophy, the Football League play-offs, the FA Trophy, the FA Vase and the National League play-offs. 

A UEFA category four stadium, Wembley hosted the 2011 and 2013 UEFA Champions League Finals, eight games at UEFA Euro 2020 (including the final and both of the semi-finals) and hosted the final of the UEFA Women's Euro 2022. It will stage the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final. 

The stadium hosted the Gold medal matches at the 2012 Olympic Games football tournament. The stadium also hosts rugby league's Challenge Cup final and music concerts. The stadium also hosted NFL London Games until 2019 and was also the temporary home of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur between August 2017 and March 2019, while White Hart Lane was being demolished and their new stadium was constructed.

More information: Wembley Stadium

We won the cup, and it is just unbelievable.

Sarina Wiegman