With Scotland’s women missing out on the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, their next focus will be on facing England in the Nations League.
The two rivals face off in their opening game of the competition at Sunderland's Stadium of Light on September 22 and it will provide a great opportunity for the Scots to test themselves against the European champions.
Scots Motivated by World Cup Disappointment
Looking at the standard of some of the sides that made it into the major tournament Down Under, Scotland’s players might well be feeling they should have reached the competition this summer. England made the tournament and are 5/1 in the Women's World Cup 2023 odds to lift the trophy for the first time. Those putting on football bets will also find the Lionesses at 2/1 to reach the final at the major competition following their success at the European Championships last year. Watching the action from afar at the World Cup will hurt Scotland’s players after they missed out on qualifying this time around.
Losing on home soil at the hands of the Republic of Ireland saw the Scots miss out on the tournament but perhaps that disappointment can act as a motivator for this side going forward. Since that loss to the Irish, Scotland have gone on to secure wins over Venezuela, the Philippines, Australia, Costa Rica, Northern Ireland, and Finland. They will be on a six-game unbeaten run (5 wins, one draw) before their next test against the English at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland Showdown Offers Good Opportunity
With England being the reigning European champions, Scotland manager Pedro Martínez Losa will get a good idea of how his side match up against one of the best in September. The last time these two sides met was back in 2019 at the World Cup in France, with England coming out on top 2-1 in Nice. The Scots have shown signs of progress since that defeat in the south of France but still unfortunately missed out on the 2023 World Cup.
After the dust has settled on this year's tournament in Australia and New Zealand, England don’t have that long before going at it again in this inaugural Women's Nations League clash with Scotland. It might well provide a good opportunity for the Scots to cause an upset in Sunderland with England having to play so soon after the rigours of a World Cup campaign. Losa and his players have had the summer to stew over their absence from the competition and all their focus will be on getting one over on the Auld Enemy in September. Scotland have come a long way from the side that suffered a 6-0 defeat to England at Euro 2017 but they still have ground to make up to compete with the Lionesses.
Losa and his side will be hoping their meeting in Sunderland can provide an opportunity for a scalp as they try to narrow that gap on their rivals in the growing sport of women’s football.