England celebrate 50-year anniversary with victory over United States in front of bumper Wembley crowd

England secured a 2-1 victory over the United States on Friday night at Wembley Stadium.

Before the match, England celebrated 50 years of the women’s senior national team. Their first match was a 3-2 victory on November 18, 1972 and the FA chose the friendly against USA to mark the half century.

A host of former players were in attendance to watch the 2022 European Champions who were guided once again by manager Sarina Wiegman, who has overseen their consistent and dramatic improvement.

They were up against the USWNT, one of the best – if not the best – team in the world today, and Wiegman made five changes to the side that beat Luxembourg with a crushing 10-0 margin in their previous match.

Chloe Kelly returned to the line-up, alongside Fran Kirby and Millie Bright, but they had to make do without the injured Leah Williamson for the evening.

The home side took the lead at Wembley after just 10 minutes, when Lauren Hemp robbed Alana Cook to finish past Alyssa Naeher, in goal for the United States.

The away side levelled just before the half-hour mark when Sophie Smith seized on a Georgia Stanway error to beat Mary Earps, but hope for the United States was short lived as England swiftly re-established their lead.

It only took five minutes for England to go back in front when Stanway scored from the spot after a high foot from Hailie Mace on Lucy Bronze.

It was only a few minutes before Trinity Rodman appeared to have levelled to make it 2-2. However a VAR review showed that the move was offside and the effort was chalked off.

There was a scare for England when referee Riem Hussein awarded a penalty for handball against Hemp with nine minutes remaining. The ball struck Hemp when Rose Lavelle fired the ball goalwards, but after checking a pitchside monitor the decision was overturned, with VAR again saving the England side from conceding.

The win means England have now extended their unbeaten record to 23 matches, achieved in front of a crowd of around 90,000 spectators.