Curse of the Lionesses: what’s causing spate of England women’s football injuries?

Several key players are out of the World Cup, raising concerns about hectic schedules, sub-par pitches and sexism

fran kirby injury football
Chelsea midfielder Fran Kirby is the latest Lioness to be missing the World Cup
(Image credit: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

The England women’s football team has suffered a spate of serious injuries, ruling several key players out of the World Cup and raising further health concerns amid hectic schedules and male-focused medical research.

Chelsea announced this week that their key midfielder Fran Kirby will miss the tournament and undergo knee surgery. This adds to the “already lengthy list of absentees” in the Lionesses’ squad for this summer’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand, said The Times, many of whom were instrumental in last summer’s Euro 2022 triumph.

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Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.