Sarina Wiegman will coach Great Britain’s women’s football team at the 2024 Olympics, if the team qualifies, the English Football Association confirmed Wednesday.
England manager Wiegman steered the Lionesses to the 2023 World Cup final, and also led them to victory in the Euros in 2022. She has been selected as the standout candidate to lead Team GB to Paris in 2024, but only if the team qualifies.
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With two spots on offer for European teams for the Olympics, alongside hosts France, Team GB’s hopes are reliant on England’s fortunes in the UEFA women’s Nations League. The Lionesses are the team nominated as the home nation who can qualify Team GB for Paris.
To qualify for Paris 2024, England need to top a Nations League group that features Netherlands, Scotland and Belgium. If they do that, they’ll qualify for the Nations League finals alongside the three other group winners. The top two sides then progress to the Olympics, though this’ll be stretched to the third-best-placed side if hosts France reach the Nations League final.
“My full focus is on the Nations League campaign, but I would of course be very excited if the chance came to lead Team GB next summer. It would be an honour,” Wiegman said. “There is still a long way to go, and I prefer to only focus on what we know for sure right now.
“We have to be at our best in the Nations League, where we will face three very strong teams in our group. We have full respect for all our opponents, as they will be doing all they can to win too.
“The Olympics Games is such a special sporting event and, for women’s football, one of the biggest stages to play. That is the goal, but we know it cannot happen if we don’t do our job in the Nations League. Until that is complete, it would not be right to talk any more about Team GB including speculation about players and any early preparations.”
Wiegman previously coached the Netherlands in the delayed 2020 Olympics where they were knocked out in the quarterfinals on penalties to the United States.
