In its inaugural year, the UEFA Women’s Nations League roars back to life with crunch clashes meaning hopes of reaching the finals and dreams of Olympic qualification are on the line for some, while a quartet of our Canadian and American talent are involved in friendly fixtures across the pond.

Millie Bright and Sam Kerr have been forced to withdraw from the England and Australia squads respectively due to injury. Let’s take a look at the Blues who will be in action and the matches taking place both in Europe and beyond.

Crunch time for Lionesses

Five Blues have been called-up to the England squad for a crucial pair of games against the Netherlands and Scotland, with the Lionesses realistically needing to win both of these matches to keep alive their chances of reaching the Nations League finals.

Hannah Hampton, Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, Fran Kirby and Lauren James will be hoping they can inspire England who sit third in Group A1. Sarina Wiegman’s side are required to reach the finals to keep hopes of Olympic qualification alive for Team GB.

Two sets of Nations League matches will be played on Friday 1 December and Tuesday 5 December respectively. England face the Netherlands at Wembley Stadium this Friday before taking on Scotland at Hampden Park next Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Europe

Eve Perisset returns to the France squad for their Nations League matches against Austria and Portugal, with Herve Renard’s side holding a three-point lead at the top of Group A2 going into the final international window of the year.

Germany occupy second place in Group A3 with our German duo of Ann-Katrin Berger and Sjoeke Nusken preparing to take on Denmark and Wales. The latter sit bottom of the group and are captained by all-time Barclays Women’s Super League appearance record holder, Sophie Ingle.

Three Scandinavian Blues are in action with Maren Mjelde flying the flag for Norway, who prop up Group A2 with Portugal and Austria lying in wait. Zecira Musovic and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd will represent Sweden, who are second in Group A4 with Switzerland and Spain on their agenda.

Erin Cuthbert is a key component in Scotland’s midfield and never fails to make an impact. They go into their encounters with Belgium and England at the bottom of Group A1 and will be aiming to secure their first victory of the campaign.

Long-haul Blues

Our Canadian trio have been called up for Canada’s international friendly double-header against Australia in Victoria and Vancouver, and they will not come up against Matildas captain Kerr following her withdrawal from the squad earlier this week.

Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence and Jessie Fleming will be looking for minutes during the first match in Victoria in the early hours of Saturday morning, with the return fixture in Vancouver kicking off in the early hours of Wednesday 6 December.

Mia Fishel has been named in the United States squad that will play two matches against China, starting with a meeting in Florida on Saturday evening followed by the return fixture in Texas next Wednesday 6 December.

Be sure to check back throughout the international break to find out how our Blues are faring for their countries, with the first set of fixtures getting under way on Friday.