Parkinson pulls out of England U-20 camp, stays with Courage
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- Erica Meg Parkinson, an 18-year-old North Carolina Courage midfielder, withdrew from England's Under-20 training camp in Portugal ahead of the Under-20 Women's World Cup in Poland
- North Carolina Courage teammate Lauryn Thompson also pulled out, with the pair staying at the club which sits sixth in NWSL and is in play-off contention
- Manchester United's Jessica Anderson and West Ham's Sienna Wareing were called up as replacements in Lydia Bedford's 24-player squad
- Coach Lydia Bedford will name her final 21-player World Cup squad on 20 August, with England scheduled to face Portugal in a Lisbon friendly on Thursday before then
- Parkinson had been part of Sarina Wiegman's senior set-up for April's games against Spain and Iceland and has also featured for the Under-23 side
- The Under-20 Women's World Cup campaign begins against Canada on Saturday, 5 September, with England drawn in a group alongside Brazil and Tanzania — their first appearance at the tournament since 2018
Why it matters: Parkinson's absence highlights the club-versus-country tug now firmly in the women's game: a teenager promoted to Wiegman's senior squad in April is prioritising an NWSL play-off push over England camp. With Bedford naming her final 21-player World Cup squad on 20 August, Anderson and Wareing get a direct audition to replace her before Poland.
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