Lucy Bronze misses England’s Switzerland friendly after team sheet error

Lucy Bronze was unable to come on as a substitute during England’s friendly victory over Switzerland on Tuesday after mistakenly not being listed on the official team sheet.

England had attempted to bring Bronze on during the final 10 minutes at Bramall Lane, with the the 33-year-old right-back on the touchline in her kit and ready to enter the field, but she was instead forced to return to the dugout.

Defender Jess Carter was introduced instead, with Bronze denied what would have been her 128th senior cap. England head coach Sarina Wiegman confirmed at full time this was due to an administrative error.

“Yes, that was a moment where she was not on the list,” Wiegman told ITV Sport. “So there had been a mistake, unfortunately a human mistake, and we found out there.

“We still wanted to bring her on the pitch but unfortunately she could go (on) so that was really frustrating — of course the most for herself — but we couldn’t change it.”

IFAB’s (The International Football Association Board) laws of the game state that “only the players and substitutes named on the team list may take part in the match upon their arrival… Anyone not named on the team list as a player, substitute or team official is an outside agent.”

An experimental England side beat Switzerland 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from Grace Clinton. Wiegman made 10 changes to the side that had drawn 0-0 with the USWNT at Wembley on Friday, with Ruby Mace and Laura Blindkilde Brown making their senior debuts.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

UK Women's Football

2024 The Athletic Media Company