Crises are not born from friendly matches, but England's disorganized defensive performance, a cautious starting lineup, and the concession of three goals within the first 30 minutes in a loss to Germany at Wembley, will undoubtedly feel quite painful.

The last time these two teams faced each other on this stage, the stakes were much higher, and the outcome was very different. England secured an extra-time victory over Germany thanks to Chloe Kelly's iconic goal, giving England their first major trophy at the Euros in 2022, two years ago.

England has nine months until they begin their defense of that title in Switzerland. Based on the performance against Germany, following a somewhat challenging European Championship qualifying campaign, Sarina Wiegman has a significant task ahead of her if she is to restore England's solidity and intimidation factor.

Germany arrived at Wembley with a new manager, Christian Wück, and notable absences, including Lena Oberdorf due to injury and Svenja Huth, Marina Hegering, and Lina Magull not selected in the squad. Giovanna Hoffmann was chosen to lead the line for the Germans, receiving her first cap despite only nine career goals in the Bundesliga, as she fits the profile of forward that Wück desires.

The surprise in England's starting lineup was that there were no surprises; Wiegman opted for tried and tested players over those in form at club level. Aggie Beever-Jones, Grace Clinton, Jess Park, and Alex Greenwood were all absent from the starting lineup, with Jess Carter at left-back. The Euro 2022 winning center-backs, Leah Williamson and Millie Bright, were reunited despite their recent unconvincing performances for Arsenal and Chelsea, respectively, and Ella Toone was handed the No 10 shirt in the absence of the injured Lauren James. The only player to be preferred over a more established counterpart was Hannah Hampton, who was chosen in goal over Mary Earps.

Wiegman dismissed the notion that the Chelsea goalkeeper was her new No 1, stating before kick-off: “No, that’s not correct. The competition is ongoing. We have excellent goalkeepers. Mary and Hannah are competing with each other, and we’ll see what that brings.”

The manager's decision to stick with players from the squad that earned a 2-1 win over Germany in the final of the 2022 Euros, and seven starters from that final, despite the opportunity to test players in friendly fixtures for the first time in a long time, seemed conservative. The trust placed in experience to deliver at Wembley was quickly betrayed. Williamson's short pass went straight to Hoffmann, who fed Linda Dallmann, brought down by a recovering Bright. Germany's captain, Giulia Gwinn, converted from the spot, firing low into the corner to stun England on home turf.

Wiegman’s side had the ball in the back of the net shortly after, Alessia Russo latching onto Toone’s backheel before firing in, but Toone had been offside in the buildup, and a late flag quashed the celebrations. They were further punished immediately, as Gwinn skated into open space on the right before striking past Hampton.

It was a disheartening first 11 minutes, and things only worsened for England. A confident counterattack left Klara Bühl with the ball on the left, and she rifled it past Hampton at her near post. It would be unfair to say Wiegman’s side had been ineffective up to this point; Russo had smashed the ball off the inside of the post between the second and third Germany goals, but they were being outplayed.

Luck finally turned their way within minutes of Bühl’s goal. A VAR review confirmed the ball had grazed Gwinn’s hand after Lauren Hemp sent in a cross from the left, and England were awarded a penalty of their own. Georgia Stanway swept the ball in from the spot and collected the ball to deliver it back to the center circle, with celebrations muted on the pitch but not in the stands.

England reduced the deficit again, exploiting the defensive weaknesses in the Germany backline, with Russo at the heart of the buildup, playing the ball wide to Beth Mead, who squared for Stanway to fire in. Having been poor for the third goal conceded, Hampton kept the margin to one with a fine fingertip save shortly before the break, pushing Dallmann’s 40-yard effort onto the bar.

There was one change for England at the break, with Park replacing Toone, while Hoffmann and Sarai Linder made way for Felicitas Rauch and Selina Cerci. The second half was less frantic and more controlled but still end-to-end. England were spared further defensive humiliation by the linesman after Jule Brand slotted in with Cerci having strayed offside in the buildup.

Hoping to settle things, Wiegman reverted to the center-back pairing that reached the World Cup final in Australia, while Williamson was out with an ACL injury, bringing off the Arsenal defender in favor of Greenwood on the hour. There was controversy for Germany’s fourth, Russo adjudged to have fouled Pia-Sophie Wolter with a high foot in the box, VAR not correcting the decision of the referee despite replays showing the forward had got the ball before Wolter’s foot came into her. Sara Däbritz scored the penalty to make England’s job that much harder.

There was time for one more England goal though, Hemp’s free-kick, shortly after she had been denied herself by the offside flag, fumbled by the goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger allowing Lucy Bronze to turn in. The deficit was narrowed, but this was the first time England had conceded four under Wiegman, and only the second time they had conceded more than two since the manager arrived in September 2021.

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