Injured Euro 2022 legends Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze have made England’s squad for the Women’s World Cup.
Both were serious doubts for the tournament on July 20 after undergoing recent knee surgeries, but manager Sarina Wiegman will rely on them.
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However, Beth Mead hasn’t been named as she continues to recover from ACL surgery.
The news comes as a blow to Wiegman and the England squad, who are without a number of big names due to injury.
Captain Leah Williamson misses out through a similar ACL injury, while Fran Kirby also has a knee problem.
But Bright and Bronze’s inclusion will be a huge boost to the 23-woman squad.
Wigman also revealed that Bronze is likely to be fit for the Champions League final, where her Barcelona team take on Wolfsburg in Eindhoven on June 3.
The announcement sees 16 of the Euro 2022 squad making the cut, while Niamh Charles, Laura Coombs, Lauren James, Esme Morgan, Katie Robinson and Katie Zelem will all be playing at their first major tournament
The triumph at Wembley was part of Wiegman’s astonishing 26-game unbeaten run as Lionesses boss, which ended last time out with a friendly defeat to Australia.
Such performances saw England as one of the favourites for the World Cup, yet despite such big injuries, bookmakers still have the team second favourites behind four-time record winners the USA.
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Speaking at the squad announcement in Boldmere, the Lionesses manager said: “I have huge belief in this squad and we’re very fortunate to be selecting a fantastic group of players to travel to Australia.
“We know we will face tough challenges from strong teams, and we will have to be competitive from the first match on 22 July. We will do
everything to be at our very best again this summer.
“It is important the players get some well-deserved time to rest and recover over the next few weeks before we start the final preparations to get them ready.
“We learned a lot of positive lessons about how to get the players fit, fresh and ready from the EURO last summer and we know what we have to do to make sure we hit the ground running in the
right way when the tournament starts.”
The final 23 for the World Cup is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Mary Earps, Hannah Hampton, Ellie Roebuck
Defenders: Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, Alex Greenwood, Esme Morgan, Lotte Wubben-Moy
Midfielders: Laura Coombes, Jordan Nobbs, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Katie Zelem, Kiera Walsh
Strikers: Rachel Daly, Beth England, Lauren Hemp, Lauren James, Katie Robinson, Chloe Kelly, Alessia Russo
