Arsenal’s Beth Mead out of England Women squad due to family circumstances By Michelle
Arsenal and England Forward Beth Mead featured in England’s 4-0 international friendly victory over Japan at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia, Spain on Friday night, picking up her 50th senior England cap. Beth played the full 90 minutes for the Lionesses, providing two excellent assists, but Mead yesterday withdrew from the squad due to ‘family circumstances’.
England will end what has been a hugely successful 2022 with an international friendly match against Norway at the Pinatar Arena on Tuesday evening, but Beth will not be in that squad.
England head coach Sarina Wiegman will not call any additional players into her squad meaning that the Lionesses will complete the remainder of their final camp of the year with a 22-player group.
England will hope to extend their unbeaten run to 26 games under Sarina Wiegman when they face Norway. The Lionesses will then need to wait until February 2023 for their next camp, ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup next summer.
In recent days, Mead has been named BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year 2022 but has also been criticised for reported comments about diversity in the squad.
Hopefully it is nothing too serious and Beth will be back in action with Arsenal when they take on Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on November 19th.
Mead is also scheduled to appear at an exclusive book signing event at the Armoury on Wednesday 16th November. There has been no indication that the event is not going ahead as planned.
Michelle Maxwell