Georgia Stanway will be out for “several months” after suffering a knee injury, say Bayern Munich.
The England midfielder, 26, had an operation on Wednesday after tearing her lateral cruciate ligament.
Stanway is expected to miss England’s first four Nations League games taking place in February and April.
The England Euros winner and World Cup finalist has won back-to-back Bundesliga titles since signing for Bayern in 2022, having also helped Man City to the WSL in 2016 as well as three FA Cups.
Who do England face in Nations League?
England will face a re-run of the Women’s 2023 World Cup final after drawing Spain in the 2025 Nations League.
England will face the world and Nations League champions for the first time since the August 2023 World Cup final, when they were beaten 1-0 by Olga Carmona’s first-half strike.
The Lionesses will also play Belgium – who stunned Sarina Wiegman’s side in the last edition of the tournament with a 3-2 win in Leuven last October – and Portugal, who they have not played in a competitive game since 2017.
England’s Nations League fixtures
Portugal vs England – February 21, 2025
England vs Spain – February 26, 2025
England vs Belgium – April 4, 2025
Belgium vs England – April 8, 2025
England vs Portugal – May 30, 2025
Spain vs England – June 3, 2025