Brazil's Swedish head coach, Pia Sundhage, says a full house at Wembley Stadium when her players face England in the Finalissima on Thursday will be an ideal test ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia in July and August.
"We have a little bit of an inexperienced team," conceded Sundhage, for whom defender Rafaelle Souza will encounter Arsenal teammate and England captain Leah Williamson.
"If you look at our squad, we don't have many who have played at the World Cup. So this will be fantastic to see how they deal with a big crowd against a good team. Every game is a teacher and we have a chance to learn something."
Here's the lowdown on England vs Brazil in the Finalissima as the women's European and South American champions meet in a scheduled fixture for the first time.
England vs Brazil: What is the Finalissima?
The concept was introduced in 2022, partly in a bid to strengthen links between European football administrative body UEFA and their South American counterparts, CONMEBOL.
Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to thrash Italy 3-0 at Wembley in the men's Finalissima that year, and now England — taking part as winners of EURO 2022 — will host Copa America Femenina champions Brazil.
For the Lionesses, the game is a return to the setting where they beat Germany to win the European Championships for the first time.
“Who could imagine, in the past, that we would have a Women’s Finalissima?" asked Formiga, the Brazil legend who is the only player to have appeared at seven editions of the World Cup finals.
"I’m hoping for a great match and, obviously, I hope that Brazil leave here with the trophy. I’m also one of the fans... I hope this is just the beginning.
"Regardless of how relevant the Finalissima is, this party truly belongs to women’s football and to every fan who will be in the stands.”
England women vs Brazil women tickets: Wembley sells out
The 87,192 fans who watched the EURO 2022 final represented a European record for a women's national-team game.
With Wembley again sold out for this match, a similar figure can again be expected at England's national stadium.
The match comes almost 100 years after the first official game in the original stadium at Wembley, when Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham United 2-0 in the FA Cup final in front of an official crowd of 126,047 people. The actual attendance is thought to have been much higher than that.
"There'll be 90,000 people so it's going to be a really exciting environment," said England coach Sarina Wiegman. "There are two teams who want to play football, with a good history, so it's going to be a very exciting evening."
MORE: Where to watch England vs Brazil women's Finalissima 2023, live stream, TV channel and lineups
England have won two of the three women's meetings between the nations, and Brazil have played at Wembley once before.
Team GB — largely comprised of England players — beat Brazil 1-0 in front of 70,584 fans at the 2012 Olympic Games in a group-stage match that was inconsequential for both teams because they had already qualified for the knockout stage. Both lost in the quarterfinals.
What time is England vs Brazil kick off?
The Finalissima match kicks off at Wembley Stadium, London on Thursday, April 6 at 7:45 p.m. local time. The game will go straight to penalties if it is level at fulltime.
Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA | Thu, Apr. 6 | 14:45 ET |
| Canada | Thu, Apr. 6 | 14:45 ET |
| UK | Thu, Apr. 6 | 19:45 BST |
| Australia | Fri, Apr. 7 | 05:45 AEDT |
| India | Fri, Apr. 7 | 01:15 IST |
| Hong Kong | Fri, Apr. 7 | 03:45 HKT |
| Malaysia | Fri, Apr. 7 | 03:45 MYT |
| Singapore | Fri, Apr. 7 | 03:45 SGT |
| New Zealand | Fri, Apr. 7 | 07:45 NZDT |
England vs. Brazil on TV
UEFA.tv will stream the match in all territories except South America and areas where UEFA has an appointed broadcast partner. The full list is available on UEFA.com.
| TV channel | Streaming | |
|---|---|---|
| USA | Univision | UEFA.tv |
| Canada | — | UEFA.tv |
| UK | ITV 1/STV | ITVX/STV Player, UEFA.tv |
| Australia | — | UEFA.tv |
| New Zealand | — | UEFA.tv |
| India | — | UEFA.tv |
| Hong Kong | — | UEFA.tv |
| Malaysia | — | UEFA.tv |
| Singapore | — | UEFA.tv |
UK: This match will be broadcast live in the UK via ITV's TV and streaming services with STV providing broadcast options for viewers in Scotland.
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England vs. Brazil lineups
Wiegman has the majority of her key stars available for this clash, in what will be the final competitive game before the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in July.
Barcelona duo Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh are included in the squad, but the injured Millie Bright and Fran Kirby are two key absences for England.
England starting XI (4-3-3): Earps (GK) — Bronze, Williamson, Carter, Greenwood — Stanway, Walsh, Toone — Daly, Russo, James
Brazil have a squad packed with international experience, although veteran captain Marta, who has 117 international goals to her name, is injured.
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Hugely experienced and prolific Kansas City forward Debinha is also out, so Palmeiras' Bia could take on responsibility for giving the visitors a goal threat.
"We know how strong England’s team is but Brazil is also strong," said Formiga. "We have excellent players.
"Even if we don’t have our best player, Marta, we have a lot of other girls who have potential and who have their own personality on the pitch."
Brazil starting XI (4-4-2): Luciana (GK) — Tamires, Lauren, Raffaelle, Bruninha — Borges, Adriana, Kerolin, Vitoria — Bia, Raysla
