The Ford Football Ferns squad to face Venezuela next month in Spain has been named, with interim head coach Michael Mayne making five changes to the side he assembled for April’s Taiwan tour. 

Calgary Wild’s Ally Green, Newcastle Jets’ Deven Jackson, Wellington Phoenix’s Grace Jale, and Melbourne City’s Rebekah Stott all return, as Mayne continues to examine a range of players in the team environment to build depth across the pitch ahead of the next FIFA Women’s World Cup cycle. 

157-cap midfielder Betsy Hassett is also named in the squad for the first time since giving birth in 2024, and will travel to Spain with her son and partner. 

The team will be looking to build on their good performances in 2024, after opening the year with a win and draw against Costa Rica before being unable to play in the April window due to pitch safety concerns in Taiwan.

The full 24-player squad is:

Liz Anton (21 caps/0 goals) Kolbotn IL, Norway
Kelli Brown (2/0) Perth Glory, Australia
Claudia Bunge (33/0) Melbourne Victory, Australia
Milly Clegg (13/1) Halifax Tides, Canada
Manaia Elliott (1/0) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Victoria Esson (26/0) Rangers, Scotland
Michaela Foster (24/1) Durham FC, England
Ally Green (17/2) Calgary Wild, Canada
Maya Hahn (2/1) FFC Turbine Potsdam, Germany
Jacqui Hand (33/8) Sheffield United, England
Betsy Hassett (157/15) Stjarnan FC, Iceland
Deven Jackson (1/0) Newcastle Jets, Australia
Grace Jale (34/8) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Claudia Jenkins (0/0) Adelaide United, Australia
Katie Kitching (16/5) Sunderland AFC, England
Annalie Longo (138/15) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Meikayla Moore (69/4) Calgary Wild, Canada
Ruby Nathan (5/1) Canberra United, Australia
Grace Neville (12/0) London City Lionesses, England
Emma Pijnenburg (1/0) Feyenoord Rotterdam, Netherlands
Alina Santos (0/0) University of Denver, USA
Rebekah Stott (106/4) Melbourne City, Australia
Kate Taylor (23/2) Dijon FCO, France
Grace Wisnewski (3/0) Lexington SC, USA

Of players named in Ford Football Ferns squads in the last year, CJ Bott, Katie Bowen, Macey Fraser, Anna Leat, Malia Steinmetz, Jana Radosavljević, Indiah-Paige Riley, and Ali Riley were not available for selection due to injury concerns or return to play considerations.

Interim Ford Football Ferns head coach Michael Mayne said: 

“It’s another exciting squad to name, with good consistency and lots of motivation to reassemble in Spain and get back to work, especially as we weren’t able to get our performance out on the pitch in the last international window due to issues outside of our control.

“As with previous windows, the priority for us at this stage of the cycle is building competition in the squad ahead of the next FIFA Women’s World Cup, so it is good to welcome back some players who weren’t in squad in the last or last few windows. 

“Following her return to football and her progress, it's great to call Betsy back into the Ford Football Ferns whānau after giving birth to her son Nói last year, and we look forward to the whole family joining us in camp. 

“Venezuela will be a good challenge for us at this point in the cycle, so I’m looking forward to working with the team to continue implementing our new playing model and seeing some strong individual performances to promote a dominant team performance in Spain.”

The Ford Football Ferns face Venezuela on Sunday 1 June 2025 at 4am NZT (31 May 2025 at 6pm local) and Wednesday 4 June 2025 at 4am NZT (3 June 2025 at 6pm local).

The first game will be played at the Marbella Football Center in San Pedro de Alcántara, Spain. 

The second will take place at Estadio Nuevo Mirador in Algeciras, Spain. 

Both games are set to be available live and free on FIFA Plus. 


Article added: Wednesday 14 May 2025