All eyes were on Kendall before kick-off as she made her return to Southampton – the club she spent almost a decade with from her youth, breaking into the senior side and scoring 29 goals in 103 appearances.
The 21-year-old’s rise has been rapid having only stepped up to WSL football this year after joining Aston Villa in the summer.
She was handed a debut in October’s 3-0 win over Australia, picking up the player-of-the-match award, and took just six minutes to make her mark in Southampton and net her first goal for her country.
Sprinting to the corner and knee-sliding in celebration, Kendall’s night could have got even better when a corner deflected off her and bounced on to the crossbar late in the first half.
She had come close to setting up Kearns beforehand, but her Aston Villa team-mate could only direct the ball straight at goalkeeper Cynthia Konlan Fiindib.
Kendall was one of seven changes made to the starting XI by Wiegman, who had named a strong side for Saturday’s 8-0 demolition of China.
A number of youngsters took their opportunities to shine with Kearns, Kendall and centre-back Maya Le Tissier among the brightest.
Arsenal full-back Taylor Hinds, who made her debut alongside Kendall in October, put in another solid and assured display, while Chelsea forward Beever-Jones headed an effort on to the crossbar.
England’s most experienced player Bronze also hit the crossbar with a diving header as Wiegman’s side could have added to their tally easily.
Ghana were better opposition than China – albeit England performed exceptionally well on Saturday – and they had a few opportunities to test goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse, starting just her second game in the absence of injured duo Hannah Hampton and Khiara Keating.
Kim Bjorkegren, Ghana’s coach, said afterwards: “As a coach, you always want to win of course but at the same time we have to have in our minds that we are 67th in the world rankings and we were playing England, who are maybe right now the best team in the world.
“I think we can be really proud with how we were performing. Overall, I’m really happy and we feel we’re moving in the right direction. Almost everyone can see that. We always want to be better.”
Overall, Wiegman’s desire to control possession and create goalscoring opportunities was satisfied as England dominated on another pleasing evening to end a successful year.
This was their final of four successive friendly matches and attention will quickly turn next year, when they begin their 2027 World Cup qualification campaign.
