When England begin their European title defence in 12 months' time, who will Sarina Wiegman trust to be her first-choice goalkeeper?
As Hannah Hampton, not Mary Earps, lined up for England’s make-or-break UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 qualifier against Sweden on Tuesday night, Lucy Ward, on co-commentary duties for , couldn’t help but ponder what such a significant team selection meant. Earps starred for the Lionesses as they won Euro 2022 and reached the 2023 Women’s World Cup final and yet, less than 12 months on from the latter, she was on the bench for this huge clash. “Maybe this is a changing of the guard,” Ward mused.
That is the question on everyone’s lips after England’s July fixtures, both of which Hampton started. It was perhaps not a shock that she was in between the sticks against Ireland on Friday night, as head coach Sarina Wiegman had chosen to play her in the reverse of that fixture in April to gain some more competitive experience. However, that she got the nod against Sweden, when the Lionesses had to avoid defeat to secure automatic qualification for Euro 2025, was huge.
“That’s a statement, playing her today,” former England star Karen Carney said on . “I think that Hannah is in that No.1 position and she’ll be saying, 'I’ve got to hold onto it'. 'I’ve got to keep it'. Because this time next year, this could be the quarter-finals of the Euros.”
There’s no doubt that, right now, the pair feel as neck and neck as they ever have. But who will lead the race to be the Lionesses’ No.1 when Euro 2025 kicks off in less than 12 months’ time?
GettyNot on the cards
When England met up for the final time in 2023, this competition never even felt close. Earps was so secure in her role as the Lionesses’ first-choice goalkeeper, something emphasised by the reaction to her tearful post-match interview following a high-profile error against the Netherlands in December.
Victory by a two-goal margin in that game, rather than the 3-2 win achieved, would’ve made England’s chances of securing Olympic qualification much more straight-forward and, as a result, Earps was devastated that she hadn’t kept out the Dutch’s second of the night. "I'm just sorry that my performance has cost the team,” she said.
That was emphatically dismissed by every member of the Lionesses’ team that spoke to the media in the aftermath. After all, not only do England, in Wiegman’s words, “win as a team and lose as a team,” they also know that Earps has come up big to bail others out in her time as her country’s No.1. “In the World Cup final, I gave away a penalty and she saved it,” Keira Walsh said a few days later. “Mary has delivered before so I'm pretty sure she'll deliver again.”
AdvertisementGettyEarned England's trust
It was those historically consistent performances as England goalkeeper which Walsh mentions that had helped Earps establish such an unassailable lead in the pecking order. At Euro 2022, 10 months into her status as No.1 after a couple of years in the international wilderness, the then-Manchester United shot-stopper was outstanding, marking herself out as one of the best in the world as England triumphed at Wembley.
That form continued at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, where Earps claimed the Golden Glove as the Lionesses reached the final. The individual accolades poured in during this time, and deservedly so, with her twice named The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper and able to achieve a highest-ever position for a goalkeeper in the Ballon d’Or Feminin voting, of fifth. Factoring in experience, performance in high pressure moments and consistency at club level, Earps was by far and away England’s best goalkeeper.
Getty ImagesPatience is a virtue
So when looking at how fierce the competition for that shirt is now, the question is about how Hampton has closed that gap rather than wondering what Earps has done to lose ground. While the latter has continued to perform well for club and country, Hampton has made simply incredible progress in just half a season.
Last summer, aged 22, she took something of a risk in leaving Aston Villa to join Chelsea. In the Midlands, she was first-choice and she was developing well, earning a spot in England’s Euro 2022 and 2023 World Cup squads as a result. At Chelsea, though, she would be competing with two other senior international goalkeepers, both with much more experience than her. At first, this meant she wasn’t even being named to matchday squads, never mind getting minutes.
Hampton’s situation was actually contributing to a bit of a problem for England, as Earps was the only one of Wiegman’s three regular goalkeepers, the other being Ellie Roebuck, who was actually playing for her club. “That makes it a little bit complicated,” Wiegman admitted in October. Comments from then-Chelsea boss Emma Hayes hardly suggested that Hampton was on the brink of a breakthrough with her minutes, either.
GettyTaking your chance
But when the 23-year-old eventually got her chance to debut for the Blues in December, she grabbed it with both hands. From that point onwards, no one kept more clean sheets in the Women’s Super League, despite a lot of enforced rotation occurring in the defence in front of her. Of goalkeepers who made more than five appearances in that time, Manchester City's Khiara Keating was the only one to boast a higher save percentage.
Usurping Ann-Katrin Berger, Chelsea’s long-time first-choice goalkeeper who would join U.S. side Gotham before the season was out, and Zecira Musovic, the Sweden star who shone at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Hampton became the Blues’ No.1 choice. “I genuinely believe Hannah has all the ability to become the best in the world,” Hayes said.
Hampton’s form didn’t go unnoticed in the England set-up, either. In February, she got a chance in a friendly. In April, Wiegman started her in a qualifier against Ireland – that being the coach’s first XI for a competitive match that didn’t feature Earps since September 2022. Slowly but surely, she impressed and proved that she was ready to thrive on the international stage.