Credit: Imago and Tung Manh Phan

Richie Mills

Tue 7 April 2026 19:10, UK

Ellie Roebuck and Lucia Kendall have reported for England duty as 13 Aston Villa players prepare to represent their respective countries.

Once again, the Women’s Super League season has been put on hold as the April international break rolls round.

For England, they are gearing up for World Cup qualifiers against defending champions Spain at Wembley on 14 April, before travelling to Iceland four days later for another Group A3 encounter.

England and Spain, who met in the Euros final last year, have two wins from two so far and now they are preparing for a heavyweight clash. Top spot in the group guarantees you qualification to the 2027 World Cup, but second means a route to the play-offs.

As Villa’s stars prepare for international football, Aston Villa News has provided a rundown of who is playing where over the next week or so.

Aston Villa prepare for matches in Europe and further afield

Roebuck and Kendall have been named in Sarina Wiegman’s latest Lionesses squad. And while the latter has played twice for England in 2026, the same cannot be said for Roebuck.

The goalkeeper is unlikely to add to her caps, with Hannah Hampton the undisputed number one, with Roebuck hoping to be the third-choice keeper at next year’s World Cup.

Rachel Maltby is linking up with England’s Under-19s for their UEFA Women’s U19 EURO second round qualifiers against Latvia, Wales, and Switzerland.

Sofia Kelly, who is on loan at Rangers, has been named in Wales’ Under-19s, with the youngster also hoping to qualify to this summer’s finals in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Miri Taylor and on-fire striker Kirsty Hanson are preparing for a double header World Cup qualifier with Belgium on 14 and 18 April, with the Scots currently top of Group B4 (Belgium, Israel, and Luxembourg) after two wins from two.

Top spot will advance them to the play-offs, in addition to a promotion to League A in the Nations League, while Anna Patten is in World Cup qualifying action for the Republic of Ireland, with back-to-back fixtures against Poland in Group A2.

Oriane Jean-François will hope to play for France against the Netherlands, and she could face Dutch duo Lynn Wilms and Chasity Grant in Group A2.

Noelle Maritz will hope her Switzerland side can beat Turkey in Group F on 14 and 18 April, and then outside of Europe, Maya Hijikata‘s Japan are preparing for three matches against the United States.

Finally, Sabrina D’Angelo of Canada is heading to Brazil for the FIFA Series 2026, which includes games against Brazil, Zambia, and South Korea.

Aston Villa will hope for another international break boost

Heading into the February/March international break, Villa fans were up in arms over their poor run of form.

A 2-1 loss to Everton was followed up by a thumping 4-1 defeat to lowly Liverpool. To make matters worse, they were put to the sword by Tottenham in a 7-3 rout at Villa Park.

But since the WSL returned in mid-March, Villa held runaway leaders Manchester City to a goalless draw and beat basement side Leicester City 2-1.

They then gave Chelsea an almighty scare in a 4-3 defeat at Kingsmeadow on 29 March.

Villa will hope they can continue these encouraging displays ahead of fixtures with Arsenal, West Ham, and London City.

The Midlands outfit sit ninth in the WSL but a win could take them sixth if results go their way.