England forward Beth Mead to miss Norway friendly for family reasons

Lucy Bronze also misses England’s final game of 2022 miss out as a precaution regarding a minor injury.

England have confirmed that forward Beth Mead has withdrawn from the squad due to family circumstances (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)

Beth Mead will miss England’s final fixture of 2022 against Norway on Tuesday due to family circumstances.

The Arsenal forward won her 50th Lionesses cap in the 4-0 win against Japan on Friday, providing two assists to tee up Rachel Daly and Chloe Kelly.

Ella Toone also got on the scoresheet, before Everton’s Jess Park came on as a substitute and scored just seconds into her England debut to help extend the Lionesses’ unbeaten run to 25 games.

England announced Mead’s withdrawal on Saturday alongside Lucy Bronze, who will miss out as a precaution regarding a minor injury.

The defender had originally been ruled out of the Japan clash after testing positive for Covid, and Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman confirmed pre-match that Bronze had tested negative but would be returning to Barcelona.

The European champions will bring the curtain down on an historic year against Norway, and Wiegman will be hoping her side can provide a repeat performance from their dominant display against the same opponents this summer.

The Lionesses thrashed Norway 8-0 in the group stages of Euro 2022, with Mead scoring a hat-trick alongside goals from Ellen White, Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo.

The result saw them secure a spot in the quarter-finals, with England going on to win the tournament against Germany in the final.