Your guide to United Women’s April internationals
Up to 12 of Manchester United Women’s players could play senior international football for their countries this month.
There’s a whole host of potentially campaign-defining World Cup qualifiers on our schedule of Reds-involving action across Europe over the next week or so, along with a couple of friendly matches for good measure.
So, without further ado, here’s a rundown of all the nations that Marc Skinner’s squad will represent in this month’s break, accompanied with call-up details, fixture dates and more…
DENMARK
January signing Signe Bruun had been called up to represent the Danish team in their two World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Azerbaijan this month but will now unfortunately miss those games, as confirmed by her national side on Thursday. It is a shame for the forward, who has netted a competition-leading 12 goals in her country’s opening six qualifiers so far, which they have won each and every one of.
Sofie Bredgaard og Sara Holmgaard bliver også udtaget til VM-kvalifikationskampen mod Aserbajdsjan tirsdag den 12. april 🇩🇰
— Fodboldlandsholdene 🇩🇰 (@dbulandshold) April 7, 2022
Desværre er hverken Pernille Harder eller Signe Bruun blevet kampklar i tide. Vi håber at se jer tilbage på holdet i juni.#ForDanmark #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/PY98igcTFU
Trips to North Macedonia (8 April, 19:00 BST) and Northern Ireland (12 April, 19:55 BST) await our senior Lionesses quartet of Mary Earps, Alessia Russo, Ella Toone and Katie Zelem. Sarina Wiegman’s side currently top Group D with a 100 per cent record, having scored an impressive 53 goals without response in their first six matches. The recent Arnold Clark Cup winners could become one of the first nations from Europe to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand should they win both of their matches and second-place Austria fail to take maximum points from their upcoming outings against Northern Ireland and Latvia.
NETHERLANDS
Jackie Groenen has been named in a 24-player Netherlands squad for their matches this month. The Oranje will look to maintain their position at the top of their five-team World Cup qualifying group at home to Cyprus on Friday (19:45 BST), before taking on South Africa, also on home soil, in a friendly four days later (17:45 BST).
The first of the international action involving United Women in this break comes via our senior Norwegian duo of Vilde Boe Risa and Maria Thorisdottir. A 17:00 BST kick-off is scheduled for their World Cup qualifier at home to Kosovo on Thursday, before they host Poland in the same competition on the following Tuesday (18:00 BST). Like England, Gresshoppene (The Grasshoppers) have yet to concede in their campaign so far and are unbeaten in their opening six matches (five wins, one draw). They can also potentially book an early place at the tournament by winning the group this month, but would likely need two wins and results elsewhere to go their way.
SCOTLAND
Just over a week on from featuring at Old Trafford, Martha Thomas will be hoping to play at another historic footballing arena in the coming days, as her Scotland welcome Spain to Hampden Park for a qualifier on 12 April (19:35 BST). It’s a clash between the top two in Group B, with our no.9 hoping to help keep her nation’s automatic qualification hopes alive by closing the five-point gap to the group-leading Spanish side with victory in their only fixture this month.
SPAIN
After a friendly meeting at home to Brazil on Thursday (19:00 BST), Ona Batlle and Spain will turn their attentions to that aforementioned game in Glasgow against Scotland. Our no.17’s nation triumphed 8-0 in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign and are another team yet to concede so far in qualifying, while scoring 43 goals at the other end. A triumphant visit to Hampden Park would see Ona and co secure their place at the World Cup as Group B winners, while Scotland would have to battle it out for a second-place finish and the group’s one play-off spot.
✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻
— Selección Española Femenina de Fútbol (@SeFutbolFem) April 5, 2022
(tenemos una infiltrada 👤 que no logramos identificar. Ayuda, por favor)
🦉 Buenas noches, EQUIPO #JugarLucharYGanar pic.twitter.com/LDLhJsKeLh
Last but not least is the Dragons whose latest squad features a trio of Reds; Carrie Jones, Hayley Ladd and Under-21s midfielder Chloe Williams. World Cup qualifiers at home to group-leaders France on Friday (19:45 BST) at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli and a trip to Kazakhstan on the following Tuesday (14:00 BST) await our Welsh representatives, who will be aiming to narrow down the five-point lead that their first opponents have at the top of Group I, while their pursuit of automatic qualification hots up, having taken 13 points from six matches so far.