England vs. Austria result, highlights & analysis from UEFA Women's EURO 2022 opener as Mead secures narrow win

Dom Farrell

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England vs. Austria result, highlights & analysis from UEFA Women's EURO 2022 opener as Mead secures narrow win image

England got their UEFA Women's EURO 2022 campaign off to a winning start as Beth Mead's first-half strike sealed a 1-0 win over Austria.

A tournament record crowd of 68,871 saw Sarina Wiegman's side extend its unbeaten run to 15 matches, with Mead's 17th-minute effort enough to see off well-drilled opponents.

The Lionesses are back in action against Norway on Monday, when Austria will take on Northern Ireland in Group A.

Irene Fuhrmann’s Austria side made an enterprising start, with their high pressing discomforting a nervy England, although a moment of quality settled the hosts in the 17th minute.

Fran Kirby’s clever lofted pass found Mead, whose chest control and deft lob were out of the top drawer. Carina Wenninger acrobatically cleared the ball out of the goalmouth but goal-line technology showed it had just crossed the line.

That shook England out of their earlier tentative stylings, with record goalscorer Ellen White stooping to head Lauren Hemp’s cross wide.

In first-half stoppage time, White won possession high up the field and found Kirby to tee up Hemp. Austria goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger came out to magnificently deny the Manchester City winger.

Wiegman’s enviable strength on the bench was on show when she withdrew Kirby, White and Mead after the hour. One of the replacements, Alessia Russo should have extended the lead when Hemp’s free-kick was deflected upwards, but she was unable to make clean contact on her shot.

Austria belatedly registered a couple of attempts on target via Barbara Dunst and Julia Hickelsberger-Füller, although goalkeeper Mary Earps was equal to their efforts and England closed out the three points.

Kirby pulls through to pull the strings for England

Three months ago, Kirby’s chances of being involved in this tournament looked remote at best as she was sidelined by a fatigue problem at Chelsea.

The 29-year-old spoke to psychologists, enlisted a nutrition expert and had an oxygen tent installed at her house, as revealed to the Guardian.

As she knitted together all of England’s best first-half moments, including a fine assist for the winner, all the struggle must have felt worthwhile.

Lionesses front three promise greater bounties to come

Wiegman’s side could not bring its free-scoring form to the big stage and there are probably still a few issues of midfield balance to iron out. But Hemp, White and Mead look like the forward line on whom England’s bid for glory will stand or fall, and they combined superbly at times, causing Austria plenty of problems.

Hemp, in particular, was utterly relentless. The 21-year-old’s four shots, two shots on target, 11 touches in the opposition box, four chances created and nine crosses attempted were all game-high figures.

Bright turns out the lights for Austria

Earps not having a save to make until the final quarter of an hour owned much to Millie Bright.

The Chelsea centre-back was a magnet for any Austria delivery into the England box and an imposing presence throughout. Bright made a game-high nine clearances and also attempted more passes into the final third (16) than anyone else.

England vs. Austria final score

  1H 2H Final
ENG 1 0 1
AUS 0 0 0

Goals: 

ENG — Mead (Kirby) — 17th min

England vs. Austria recap and highlights from Euro 2022 opener

Fulltime: Maybe not the emphatic opening statement we expected from England, but they were good value for their victory. It should have been by a wider margin as Kirby purred behind a livewire front three. Hemp caught the eye as expected and Mead was the matchwinner. Tournament football is a results business and Wiegman's team are open and trading.

90th minute+1: Austria get a free-kick on halfway, Zinsberger booms it forward but England repel that route one tactic and Daly wins a free-kick. That should be that.

90th minute: England's increased energy in attack since the substitutions has been useful, but they are missing Kirby's craft when it comes to simply keeping possession high up the field. Nevertheless, they're almost there.

87th minute: Scrappy play in midfield and Austria emerge with the ball. Hickelsberger-Füller cuts in from the right and arrows a shot towards the bottom left corner. Earps gets down unfussily and smothered the attempt.

84th minute: An official attendance of 68,871 is announced. That smashes the previous tournament record by more than 25,000. Can England give them anything more to shout about?

81st minute: Billa and substitute Hickelsberger-Füller both take tumbles in the England area. Their ambitious penalty appeals get the appropriate response, but Wiegman's side are starting to look a little tense. They should be out of sight — have Austria got a final push in them?

78th minute: Dunst cuts inside to force a first save of the night from Earps, who shows fine concentration and footwork to push a curling effort to safety.

76th minute: Kelly gets chance to stretch her legs, driving at a backpedalling Austrian defence but scuffs the shot wide form the edge of the box.

74th minute: Daly needlessly gives away a free-kick on the England left and this is a good position for Austria. Well, it would have been if Bright wasn't inevitably there, on the end of everything.

71st minute: Chase for Russo as a clearance from an England set-piece spins up in the air. She can't get a clean contact though. Still, Wiegman's triple chance has absolutely paid dividends overall. This is hard work for Austria now, whatever the scoreline says.

69th minute: Weinrother has endured an exhausting evening trying to keep tabs on Hemp. The livewire England winger is round the outside again but overcooks the cross.

63rd minute: Triple substitution for England as the excellent Kirby and goalscorer Mead make way along with White. Manchester United duo Russo and Toone are on alongside City forward Kelly. They'll like the look of an Austria defence that must now be starting to tire.

58th minute: Walsh again at the hub of things and Stanway, who has been her typical bustling self all evening, engineers a shooting chance from 20 yards but sliced it wide.

52nd minute: More loose playing out from the back from Austria and here's Kirby. She can't quite get the ball out of her feet to get purchase on the shot and Zinsberger saves. Still, good to see the Chelsea star moving well after that ankle blow a few moments ago.

50th minute: That's a doozy of a pass from Walsh to release her Manchester City teammate Hemp. The winger holds up play to wait for the cavalry to arrive and Austria are able to clear.

48th minute: Repeat of the opening stages of the first half so far here, with Austria putting England on the back foot. They win another corner and the towering Bright is there to deal with it once more.

England will hope Kirby is okay after Wienroither planted her studs into the playmaker's ankle. She looks to be able to recover.

Halftime: Austria do not deal with the corner in a terribly convincing fashion, but they get it to safety eventually and that's halftime. England were nervy early on as Austria pressed them effectively. But Mead's goal settled them. Kirby created that and has been instrumental in most of the home side's best moments.

45th minute+1: Fantastic save from Zinsberger. That really could be huge in the final analysis. Austria give the ball away in their own box, with White making a nuisance of herself again. Kirby helps it towards Hemp, but the Arsenal goalkeeper is out in a flash to touch over. 

42nd minute: For all their early enterprise, Austria haven't really tested Mary Earps in the England goal. Oh, but here's a chance... Bright again heads clear at the near post as Dunst whips a ball in. Billa, who has been feeding off scraps so far, was ready to pounce.

36th minute: That's a lovely switch of play from Kirby to Bronze. The cross is dangerous and Wenninger gets there ahead of the lurking Hemp.

31st minute: Austria captain Schnaderbeck uses all her nous to stop White from getting on the end of Mead's cross. A goal certainly doesn't feel too far away for England's No. 9.

29th minute: Naschenweng hangs a corner dangerously under the England crossbar but Bronze leaps highest to clear the danger.

26th minute: Ooohhh, should be 2-0 and you'd have put money on England's all-time record goalscorer White to have put that away. Kirby is instrumental again, slipping a cute pass to Hemp. The winger's cross is met by White, but her diving header flies wide.

23rd minute: Austria can't get an England corner to safety, Bronze nods back towards the six-yard box and Hemp is just unable to hook towards goal.

18th minute: There's a VAR check before the restart, presumably for offside. The goal stands!

17th minute: GOAL!!! Mead!!!!

Brilliant chest control from the Arsenal star, and deft lifted finish against the underside of the crossbar... goal-line technology says it's good! England lead! Kirby's clever pass created the goal, swiftly vindicating Wiegman's decision to give here a starting berth

15th minute: England play nicely out from their own half, with Walsh producing her best work of the contest so far. Stanway drives through the final third and into the area, but there's no one on the end of her cutback form the right.

14th minute: Here come Austria again. Left-back Hanshaw whips the ball towards the near post. Bright get the block in at full stretch but it was far too easy to get the cross in.

12th minute: That's a more dangerous cross — Bronze with one of her trademark swinging delivered from the right. It bounces past White and a discomforted Austria backline for Hemp to head over on the bounce.

10th minute: Austria's approach has been bold so far but their high pressing has definitely disrupted England's rhythm. Now the hosts get a move going as Bright booms a ball out to Hemp on the left. White gets on the end of the cross but her header loops up for Zinsberger to gather comfortably.

6th minute: Bright brings some defending of the no-nonsense variety to the party and England break, but the move breaks down when Hemp can't get the ball under control.

5th minute: Walsh has her pocket picked in midfield by Zadrazil. Williamson then errs in trying to play a short pass out from the back, meaning England don't clear the danger. That's a corner to Austria.

3rd minute: Hemp whips it towards Bronze at the far post but Austria goalkeeper Zinsberger is out to confidently claim.

2nd minute: Nervy initial work from England, with an early Austria attack scrambled clear. Here's Hemp, driving inside in typical fashion. That's a foul — England free-kick midway inside the Austria half.

1 min from kickoff: Hang on... THE WEIRD LITTLE CAR WITH THE BALL FROM EURO 2020 IS BACK!!! If you weren't pumped enough already. A modern icon of modern European football right there.

2 mins from kickoff: Anthems done. A bumper crowd at Old Trafford is absolutely bouncing. Let's go!

5 mins from kickoff: The pre-tournament fireworks display didn't reckon for a soggy Manchester evening. A lot of the smoke is hanging in the air. England might wish they were in their electric crimson away kit once this gets underway. Alas, the Lionesses are in their traditional white home kit and here they come!

15 mins from kickoff: Part of the reason for England's reshuffling at the back, with Williamson in the heart of defence as opposed to central midfield, is the availability of Fran Kirby. The masterful Chelsea playmaker is in Wiegman's XI, three months on from her participation in the tournament being in doubt. Kirby was out of action with a fatigue problem, the latest setback in a career that has at times been beset by fitness issues. The 29-year-old sought the help of psychologists and nutrition specialists and had an oxygen tent installed in her house. It looks like it was all worthwhile.

30 mins from kickoff: BBC's television coverage in the UK is focusing on England winger Lauren Hemp just now. The Manchester City star was in electric form last season, scoring 10 goals and laying on six assists in the WSL. Big things are expected from the 21-year-old, who could emphatically announce herself on the world stage over the coming weeks.

40 mins from kickoff: The teams are out for their warmups and England received a rapturous reception. It's raining pretty steadily at Old Trafford. Slide tackle weather!

1hr from kickoff: This is the Austria XI. Keep an eye on Bayern Munich midfielder Sarah Zadrazil, who will be key to their hopes.

Zinsberger (GK) — Hanshaw, Schnaderbeck, Wenninger, Wienroither — Puntigam — Naschenweng, Feiersinger, Zadrazil, Dunst — Billa.

1hr 10 mins from kickoff: Here's the England XI. Rachel Daly starts at left-back, with both Greenwood and Demi Stokes on the bench as Williamson partners Millie Bright at centre-back.

1hr 20 mins from kickoff: We're not far away from that all-important team news. There's a decent amount of intrigue surrounding where England captain Leah Williamson will play. The Arsenal star could line up alongside Keira Walsh in midfield, although it's questionable whether two holders are really required against Austria. If Williamson plays at centre-back, that could mean Leah Greenwood being moved out to left-back despite excelling in the heart of defence for Manchester City this term. Williamson and Greenwood would be a wonderful footballing central-defensive pairing, but it is not one Wiegman has used before.

1hr 40 mins from kickoff: England reached the semi-finals of the past three major tournaments under Mark Samson and Phil Neville. A talented generation of players, home advantage and the presence of Wiegman means hopes are high they can take the next step. The England boss led her native Netherlands to European glory in 2017.

2hrs from kickoff: Hello and welcome to our live coverage of England's Euro 2022 opener. Sarina Wiegman's in-form hosts are taking on Austria at Old Trafford.

MORE: Who is England Women's captain? Meet the Lionesses' skipper

How to watch England vs. Austria

  UK USA Canada Australia
Date July 6 July 6 July 6 Jul 7 
Time 8 p.m. BST 3 p.m. ET 3 p.m. ET 5 a.m. AEST
TV channel BBC One ESPN2, TUDN — —
Streaming BBC iPlayer/Hub fuboTV UEFA.tv Optus

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.