• England to face USA, Japan and Spain in March tournament • ‘It is a tournament we always look forward to in the calendar’

England will launch their defence of the SheBelieves Cup against the world champions, USA, on 5 March as Phil Neville continues his preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.

Joining England and USA in the friendly competition are the tournament debutants Spain and fellow Olympic contenders Japan.

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In a gruelling schedule the squad will play the hosts USA for the first time since their World Cup semi-final exit at the hands of the four-time winners last summer, at the Exploria Stadium in Orlando before taking on Japan – their group stage opponents at the World Cup – at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. They will then fly back down the country to Frisco, Texas to play their final match against a Spain team ranked 13th in the world.

“We are excited to take part in our fifth consecutive SheBelieves Cup as it is always such an exceptional competition hosting some of the best teams in the world,” Neville said.

“It is a tournament we always look forward to in the calendar, the high tempo and intensity of the competition provides a great test for our squad with matches taking place every few days, as well as offering our players the opportunity to play in front of large crowds in excellent stadiums.

“We were delighted to lift the trophy for the first time last year, and it is an achievement we hope to replicate this time around.”

The England manager is charged with leading Team GB in the summer and has to put together an 18-player squad from a bigger pool of players.

USA, meanwhile, are yet to qualify for Tokyo and will compete in the 2020 Concacaf women’s Olympic qualifying championship at the end of January.

With England having automatically qualified for the 2021 Euros as hosts and for the Olympics via their fourth-place finish at the World Cup, the SheBelieves Cup offers the most competitive test of the players before they head to Japan.

The Lionesses won the SheBelieves Cup last March, in their fourth year of taking part in the tournament, after three goals in 30 minutes enabled them to defeat Japan in Tampa.

That win followed a much closer contest against Brazil in Pennsylvania, with the Lionesses having to come from behind to secure a 2-1 win after an early Andressa Alves penalty. Against USA a Steph Houghton free-kick cancelled out Megan Rapinoe’s goal and Nikita Parris put England in front, but the hosts recovered for a draw thanks to Tobin Heath’s goal.

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England fixtures at the 2020 SheBelieves Cup

• Thursday 5 March (KO 7pm ET): USA v England – Exploria Stadium, Orlando

• Sunday 8 March (KO 2.15pm ET): Japan v England – Red Bull Arena, Harrison

• Wednesday 11 March (KO 4.15pm CT): England v Spain – Toyota Stadium, Frisco