2019 Queen Alexandra Exhibition Match
| England Men v England Women | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Wembley Stadium in London, England, where the exhibition match took place in front of a nearly 89,000-strong crowd | |||||||
| Event | 2019 Queen Alexandra Exhibition Match | ||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 10 August 2019 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, England | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Beth Mead (Lionesses) | ||||||
| Referee | Michael Oliver (England) | ||||||
| Attendance | 88,543 | ||||||
The 2019 Queen Alexandra Exhibition Match, alternatively England Men v England Women, was a football match that took place on 5 August 2019, officially as an exhibition match in honour of the newly-coronated Queen Alexandra, who was coronated on 1 August 2019, and who formerly played for the England women's national team from 2015 to 2019. Held at Wembley Stadium in London, England, the match pitted the men's (The Three Lions) and the women's (The Lionesses) England national football teams captained by Harry Kane and Steph Houghton respectively. Their respective managers are former England internationals Gareth Southgate and Phil Neville.
The match began at 11:30 am with a coin toss resulting in the Lionesses initiating the kick-off. Initially, in the 15th minute, The Three Lions found the opening goal via a goal from fullback Kieran Trippier who headed in a corner kick from fellow fullback Kyle Walker to give his side the lead early on. However, roughly fifteen minutes later, Lionesses fullback Demi Stokes, with assistance from winger Beth Mead, scored the equalising goal to ensure a 1-1 scoreline into half-time. Then, in the 66th minute, Beth Mead, with assistance from midfielder Georgia Stanway, followed up on her initial assist with a goal of her own to make it 2-1 for the Lionesses which remained so until the end of the match, thereby resulting in a victory for the women's team against their men's counterpart in their first-ever fixture. In the aftermath of the tournament, having contributed both an assist and a goal in the match, Beth Mead was promptly named player of the match. Meanwhile, statistically, both teams traded a fairly equal amount of shots against each other with The Three Lions registering eight attempts with three on target while the Lionesses registered seven attempts with four on target. Similarly, both teams also saw three of their respective players being booked although the Lionesses otherwise prevailed in terms of ball possession with 54% to The Three Lions' 46%. Among other details, the Lionesses won nine corners to their opponents' three while also being caught offside four times whereas The Three Lions registered zero offsides throughout the match.
Historically, the occasion marks the first time that both the England men's and women's national teams ever faced one another, with the match itself also receiving much attention and praise for featuring both male and female referees in which Michael Oliver and Sian Massey-Ellis served as the head referee and assistant referee respectively. In addition, the event also recorded an official attendance of 88,543 which resulted in an estimated profit of £5.7 million, the majority of which was donated to charity and used towards financing both men's and women's football at the youth and professional levels. Meanwhile, amidst overwhelming positive reception, a second edition was later held at Wembley Stadium, London on 6 September 2021 with subsequent editions planned to be held within two years each with the aim of particularly promoting women's football, in light of recent successes, as well as bringing it into the mainstream.