England v Belgium commentary and teams: Lionesses start build-up to Euros

Sarina Wiegman's side are set to host the competition next month with record crowds expected, as the women's game continues to grow and gain the recognition it deserves.

The Lionesses have yet to win a major international tournament, but this year could be different.

The WSL has grown spectacularly over the last few years, raising the international standards as well, so England now have some of the best players around.

However, their record in the Euros isn't that great as they have only reached the final twice, most recently in 2009, when they were thrashed 6-2 by Germany.

But Wiegman won the competition back in 2017 with her native Netherlands, so that experience could and should be crucial for England.

Meanwhile, Belgium are ranked 20th in the world and appear to be a team on the up, so this will be a stern test.

England Women v Belgium Women: talkSPORT coverage

This friendly will take place on Thursday, June 16 and kick-off is scheduled for 8pm at Molineux.

talkSPORT's coverage will start at 7pm with Adrian Durham.

Commentary will come from Nigel Adderley and former England striker Lianne Sanderson.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

England Women v Belgium Women: Team news

Wiegman has now picked her squad for the upcoming Euros, and there are a few surprise omissions.

Steph Houghton has been left out after only playing five WSL games this year.

Wiegman has also decided to leave out Niamh Charles and Lucy Staniforth.

Meanwhile, Fran Kirby has been missing from action since February due to illness, but has been included in the squad.

There were also late calls made on Chloe Kelly, Nikita Paris and Lauren Hemp, but all made the squad.

England Women v Belgium Women: What has been said?

England manager Sarina Wiegman: "I am happy with where we are at heading into the EUROs. The players will have some rest now, they will be able to become fresh, they will have some headspace and then we come in.

"I am very positive about our preparations and about the opponents we have and the time that we have with the team to continue developing some more things and become even more connected with the players.

"I am happy and I am really looking forward to starting the EUROs.

"The games with Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland will help us get in a rhythm and they are very competitive games where we can see players and get to the last stage of our preparations to get ready for the EUROs. I am really happy with the opponents that we have so we can build towards July 6 and beyond."

Wiegman later added: "This team is really competitive so we have some hard choices to make. That is another reason as to why we play these three games.

"Players need to keep performing. When you play a really good game now you have opportunities. It's about knowing where the players are and looking at how we can make other scenarios work."

Lucy Bronze: "(Kieran) Trippier and Declan Rice came in last week.

"Trippier had a lot of things to say because he's a player that has a been at a lot of tournaments before and has had a bit of stick from the media, [having] played out of position last year.

"We were talking about blocking out the outside world and I think that's something that I've probably had to deal with more than most players in this England squad over past years. It was nice to be able to speak to someone who has had these issues and how they deal with these moments.

"We've been in and around St George's Park with them over the past couple of weeks. We've chatted to a lot of them. They're just human beings. They sit and play cards, we can sit with them [and] it's a nice atmosphere because I think both teams have gelled really well. They see us [as] the same."