England star Beth Mead has withdrawn from the Lionesses camp in Spain due to family circumstances.
The Arsenal forward won't appear against Norway on Tuesday evening and has returned home, after winning her 50th cap in the 4-0 win against Japan. Defender Lucy Bronze has also withdrawn from the squad after picking up a minor muscle injury, confirmed by Sarina Wiegman in a pre-match interview with ITV ahead of the Japan game.
Bronze, who also tested positive for covid earlier in the week, will now return to Barcelona. The England manager had stated that Bronze had returned a negative test but that they wouldn't risk her carrying a knock.
A statement from the FA read: "Beth Mead has withdrawn from the England squad due to family circumstances. The Arsenal forward who won her 50th cap for the Lionesses in last night’s victory against Japan has returned home today.
"Lucy Bronze will also leave the squad and return to her club over the weekend as a precaution due to a minor injury. England take on Norway on Tuesday 15 November (KO 8pm, 7pm GMT) in their final fixture of 2022."
The absence of Mead could give an opportunity to either Lauren James or Ebony Salmon, who both impressed when coming off the bench against Japan. In Bronze's absence against the 2011 World Cup winners, Rachel Daly was switched to right-back with Chelsea defender Niamh Charles deployed at left-back and both may now be handed another opportunity against Norway.
Mead, who has scored 29 goals for her country since her debut against Wales in April 2018, was last week named BBC Women's Footballer of the Year. The Arsenal star was a pivotal part of the Lionesses Euros success in the summer, also named UEFA Player of the Tournament after England beat Germany in a dramatic final in front of a sell-out Wembley.
Mead was the subject of plenty of pre-match discussion this week after she was quoted in a recent interview with The Guardian, that the lack of diversity in the England team was 'coincidental'. However, in a subsequent interview with Sky Sports she stated this was not a 'true reflection' of her values.
"My values and beliefs are completely different to what was written," said Mead. "It's not a true reflection of me as a person.
"In terms of diversity and everything in the game, I want to be there front and centre, helping with that. I know the FA are doing a lot for that. I said that in the interview and that didn't get put through.
"Unfortunately it made me look worse in that context but these things happen in the media these days. That's not a true reflection of me and I hope people understand that and sometimes don't believe everything you read."
Her England manager Wiegman also acknowledged the diversity issue in the build-up to the game with Japan, saying more needed to be done to improve diversity in the women's game.
