England women to face Norway at Bramall Lane

England women have scheduled a home fixture against Norway at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane on December 1 to finish off the calendar year.

A well-known rival for the Lionesses, who breezed by Norway in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-final with a memorable Lucy Bronze strike to seal a 3-0 win.

It will be the third time in 18 months that the two nations face each other. In August following the 2019 World Cup, Norway got the better of Phil Neville's squad in a 2-1 victory at home.

The squad continues their preparations for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Euros. Bramall Lane is one of the venues confirmed for the home Euros where the squad will be lead by current Dutch coach, Sarina Wiegman.

Before then, the Lionesses are set to face Germany for a friendly on October 27 at Brita Arena, England's first match since the SheBelievesCup in March.

Phill Neville's thoughts

“Today’s announcement completes our 2020 fixture schedule and I’m delighted with the strength of opposition we will be testing ourselves against.

“Our last camp in September was a chance for a number of younger players to integrate with the senior squad and show their potential to be part of England’s exciting journey over the coming years. It was also an opportunity to regroup and assess where players were following the long lay-off since the SheBelieves Cup.

“The remainder of the year will be all about pitting ourselves against top quality opposition so that we have a good measure of where we are at in terms of our development and progression.

“As we rebuild and reshape our squad, we need to consistently challenge ourselves against some of the world’s strongest teams to gauge our strengths and weaknesses and plot the work that’s needed between now and our next major tournament in order to be ready to win.”