England will have to navigate the play-offs in order to reach the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over Ukraine not enough to secure top spot in their qualifying group. The Lionesses went into the game knowing they needed a favour from Iceland against Spain, after La Roja thumped Sarina Wiegman’s side on Friday, and they didn’t get it, rendering their own victory meaningless in the chase for the sole automatic berth available.
It was always a long shot that Spain would slip up but England still needed to go out and get the job done in case the unlikely occurred and they made a fast start in the pursuit of three points, with Jess Carter sending a smart header beyond Ukraine shot-stopper Kateryna Boklach with just 14 minutes on the clock. By that point, though, La Roja had already taken the lead in Iceland through Vicky Lopez, giving the game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium something of a exhibition vibe from the outside.
Still, England put on a good performance as they responded to the disappointment of Friday nightdominating proceedings and not letting their opponents have a sniff of goal. Ukraine were pinned back in their own half for the majority of the game, with Lauren Hemp seeing an effort from the edge of the box well-saved, Maya Le Tissier sending a great chance over the bar and Laura Blindkilde Brown only denied a first senior international goal by a great tackle from Yana Kotyk, before Georgia Stanway made it 2-0.
A superb reverse pass from Keira Walsh carved open the Ukraine defence, finding Alessia Russo’s clever run before the striker in turn picked out Stanway in the box, with her sliding in to finish and move herself further up the Lionesses’ all-time goal-scoring charts. Within seconds, though, Spain had doubled their own lead and they would add another before the break, to send England in at half-time needing a miracle to change the situation.
There would be one great moment for the fans to enjoy before the game was out, as Beth Mead came off the bench to score a brilliant free-kick to make it 3-0 just past the hour. It was a brilliant strike which ended the scoring, as England closed out this stage of World Cup qualifying on a high. Spain’s eventual 6-1 victory in Iceland, however, means the play-offs now beckon for the Lionesses, with Wiegman’s side to find out their opponents in those games later this month.
GOAL rates England’s players from the Hill Dickinson Stadium…
