England are missing a lot of key names for their final international camp of 2025. Captain Leah Williamson remains sidelined, making the absences of both Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter all the more notable in a depleted centre-back unit, while Lauren James remains out of the squad having only just returned from injury at Chelsea. Perhaps the most significant bit of team news, though, concerns Hannah Hampton, who could miss the rest of the year with a quad issue.
Arguably England's best performer in their 2025 European Championship triumph, Hampton is not just important to the Lionesses because of her world-class quality. She was also, until just last month, the only capped goalkeeper in the squad. That changed when she was absent from the defeat to Brazil, allowing Khiara Keating to earn a debut and take the number of total caps in the rest of England's goalkeeping unit up to a grand total of one.
That Sophie Baggaley, who Wiegman called up last month to cover for Hampton's knock and has recalled this time around due to her latest injury, is also uncapped says a lot about the situation England are in when it comes to the player pool in the goalkeeping position right now. So, while Hampton's absence this week is certainly unwanted and far from ideal, it does actually act as a blessing as well, giving Wiegman no choice but to take steps towards improving circumstances in this position ahead of the 2027 Women's World Cup.
Getty ImagesDeja vu
It's only two years ago that England were in a similar situation to this. At that time, Mary Earps was the Lionesses No.1 and, because of the fortunes of her fellow goalkeepers, she was more important to her national team than ever before.
Hampton had just joined Chelsea and wasn't playing, Ellie Roebuck found herself completely out of favour at Manchester City, and Sandy MacIver had switched allegiances to Scotland. Emily Ramsey, too, was rotating in and out of the Everton line-up, meaning Earps was the only one of the five goalkeepers Wiegman had called up in the previous 12 months who was actually first-choice at club level. On top of that, Roebuck had 11 caps to Earps' 43, with Hampton on two and Keating yet to debut.
Things are slightly different this time around, mainly because Anna Moorhouse, who went to Euro 2025, is playing week-in week-out for the Orlando Pride, one of the best teams in the United States. But Keating, who earned her first call-up two years ago after usurping Roebuck to be City's No.1, hasn't played a league game since mid-September while Baggaley is operating as the cup goalkeeper at Brighton behind Nigeria star Chiamaka Nnadozie. Of those three, only Keating has a cap, having debuted last month.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportImportant decisions
Things would improve after Wiegman called the goalkeeper situation "a little bit complicated" in October 2023, because Hampton began to make her charge for the starting role at Chelsea and, at the same time, Wiegman began to give her opportunities at international level. She had to give someone the experience, anyway, because England were 18 months out from a major tournament with a massive discrepancy in caps between their shot-stoppers, especially given Roebuck would soon be out of action entirely having suffered a type of stroke.
Hampton played a friendly in February 2024, then she played a Euros qualifier in Ireland in April, making her the first goalkeeper other than Earps to start a competitive game for England since Roebuck played against Luxembourg in September 2022. These would prove to be important decisions by Wiegman, because when Earps picked up an injury mere seconds into a Euro 2025 qualifier against France in May, her back-up now had some exposure to the big stage.
Getty ImagesOpportunities needed
Again, the situation is slightly different this time around because even at the time of that game against Ireland in April, Wiegman said that Hampton was "growing into competition with Mary". Right now, it's very clear that Hampton is England's undisputed No.1. However, the fact remains that if something was to happen to the Chelsea star in a big moment, like it did to Earps in that qualifier against France, her understudy wouldn't be particularly well-prepared.
Keating has played one international friendly and, as a 21-year-old who has split starting duties at City in the last two seasons, is still lacking in experience at club level. Moorhouse and Baggaley, meanwhile, both have plenty of reps with clubs but have yet to be capped for their country. As a group, they lack experience of the big stages England play on and also of playing behind most of the Lionesses' defensive personnel.
Getty ImagesOpportunity knocks
That's why Hampton's absence this week is something of a blessing in disguise. Of course, that doesn't make it ideal, especially because England are missing so many of their experienced centre-backs. To then have to throw in an inexperienced goalkeeper only adds to the lack of solidity in the spine of this team. That could give the Lionesses a shaky platform to build on in games where they will have particular learning aims.
However, Wiegman likely would've rested Hampton in at least one of these friendlies and now she will be forced to operate without her in both, meaning there could be the chance to give out multiple opportunities to this inexperienced goalkeeping unit. As the events of 2024 prove, doing so is important for the long-term.
