2023 Queen Alexandra Exhibition Match

2023 Queen Alexandra Exhibition Match

England Men v England Women II
The Wembley Stadium in London, England, where the exhibition match took place in front of a nearly 85,000-strong crowd
Event	2023 Queen Alexandra Exhibition Match
England Men England Women 3 1
Date	12 September 2023
Venue	Wembley Stadium, England
Man of the Match	Harry Kane (The Three Lions)
Referee	Michael Oliver (England)
Attendance	84,293

The 2023 Queen Alexandra Exhibition Match, alternatively titled England Men v England Women II, was a football match that took place on 12 September 2023. Considered to be the follow-up to the 2019 edition, the match was held at Wembley Stadium, London and pitted the England men's and women's teams captained by Harry Kane and Leah Williamson. The teams' respective managers are former England international Gareth Southgate, in his second appearance, and former Netherlands Women head coach Sarina Wiegman.

Kicking off at 10:00 am, The Three Lions quickly took the initiative early on in the 12th minute when a foul by Lionesses captain and center-back Leah Williamson allowed her counterpart and striker Harry Kane to draw first blood for his side. Then, in the 29th minute, the Lionesses almost found an equaliser courtesy of winger Beth Mead whose attempt ultimately hit the woodwork, thereby allowing Harry Kane, with assistance from center-back Chris Smalling, to score his second goal in the 34th minute to make it 2-0. However, following her initial error, Beth Mead soon found the back of a net a minute into stoppage time via a successful solo effort to put the scoreline at 1-2 into half-time. Then, in the 59th minute, following a couple of unsuccessful attempts from Beth Mead to put her side on level terms, The Three Lions proceeded to extend the gap via a goal from fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold whose goal eventually confirmed his side's final 3-1 victory, thereby avenging their previous 1-2 defeat four years prior. Meanwhile, The Three Lions center-back Fikayo Tomori, who came on in the 53rd minute as a substitute for winger Phil Foden, was controversially sent off late in the 90th minute although this did not ultimately affect the final scoreline.

Statistically, although the Lionesses dominated slightly in terms of possession with 56% to The Three Lions' 44%, both teams traded a fairly equal amount of shots against each other and also saw three of their respective players being dealt a yellow card namely Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright, and Georgia Stanway for the Lionesses as well as Trent Alexander-Arnold, James Maddison, and Phil Foden for The Three Lions respectively. Meanwhile, the Lionesses won eight corners whereas The Three Lions won only two and were also caught offside only once whereas the The Three Lions were caught offside twice throughout the match.

For refereeing purposes, both Michael Oliver and Sian Massey-Ellis returned as head referee and assistant referee respectively. With an official attendance of 84,293, the occasion successfully raised a total of £5.4 million, the majority of which was later donated to charity and used to improve footballing facilities for both men and women. Much like its predecessor, the event was widely received. Moreover, particular attention was also directed to the sight of siblings Reece and Lauren James competing against each other for the first time.