world cup england rooney
England captain Wayne Rooney Reuters

England take on Norway for the International Friendly fixture scheduled between the two sides at Wembley on Wednesday.

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off- set for 8pm BST. Live coverage is on ITV and ITV HD. Radio commentary of the game will be available on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Overview

This is the first match for England following the disastrous World Cup campaign in Brazil. The Three Lions managed just one point in their three group games and were knocked out in the group stages.

There has been significant change since then, mainly in the team personnel. Captain Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have announced their retirement from international football and Wayne Rooney has been named the new captain of the English national team.

Manager Roy Hodgson has been retained despite the poor showing and he will be hoping to turn around the fortunes with a much needed win against Norway. The coach will line up with a relatively young team and will hope the new generation of players like Jack Wilshere, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling rise up to the occasion and make their mark on the international stage.

Since this is only a friendly, Hodgson will have the option of trying a few combinations before the Euro 2016 qualifiers, which begin the following week, when the Three Lions take on Switzerland.

Per-Mathias Hogmo
Norway head coach Per-Mathias Hogmo Reuters

Meanwhile, Norway will also hope to get some competitive game time under their belts ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifiers. The Norwegians are classified in a relatively tough group, which includes Italy, Croatia and Bulgaria.

Norway had a torrid time in the past year and in 2013 they only won 3 out of the 13 matches they played. In February the Scandinavian club reached their all-time low Fifa ranking, when they were placed 60 in the world.

This saw the appointment of a new coach Per-Mathias Høgmo and Norway have also adopted a new philosophy under the new manager and are hopeful of resurgence. The new coach claims to have instilled the European way, when he claimed "the way we defend is a lot like Atlético Madrid" and "the way we attack is like Manchester City".

Norwegian football was recently in the news when the coach handed a first team debut to 15-year-old prodigy Martin Odegaard, to break a century old record for the youngest player to represent the national team. However, the youngster has been left out of the squad against England, but the future does look bright for Norway.

What Managers Say

Roy Hodgson: "The game-plan is to use the quality of the players in the right way, the way they're used to playing and know how to play well. I don't need to get hung up as to whether it's the buzz formation of the moment. What's important is whether it will suit the players."

Team Form

England

  • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): D D L L D
  • Last Result: England 0-0 Costa Rica

Norway

  • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): D D W D L
  • Last Result: Norway 0-0 United Arab Emirates

England

Probable Lineup: Hart; Baines, Cahill, Stones, Jones; Henderson, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling; Sturridge, Rooney

Norway

Probable Lineup: Jarstein; Hogli, Forren, Nordtveit, Elabdellaoui; Samuelsen, Jenssen, Tettey, Daehli; Elyounoussi, Kamara

England Wayne Rooney