England will take a two-goal lead into the second leg of their Women’s World Cup qualifying play-off against Greece on Tuesday in Leicester (19:30 BST), but the 3-1 first-leg victory in Crete left Sarina Wiegman demanding more ruthlessness from her players. England had 74% possession and produced 26 shots, yet scored only three goals and conceded in the second half. Greece also hit the bar in the first half with a powerful strike.
It is not a new concern. Since finishing as runners-up to Spain at the 2023 World Cup, England’s lack of a clinical edge has been a recurring theme. In that tournament they came through the group stage unconvincingly, beating lower-ranked Haiti and Denmark 1-0, then got past Nigeria on penalties and had to come from behind to beat Colombia 2-1 in the quarter-finals. In World Cup qualifying this year, they have performed well but not won with ease, edging past Iceland and Spain and under-firing against Greece. The chances are still there: England had 58 touches in the opposition box against Greece and 210 passes in the final third.
Midfielder Keira Walsh described the hesitancy in front of goal as frustrating and said England know there is work to do in the second leg. She stressed that the bigger worry would be failing to reach the final third at all. ‘We played differently back then [in 2023]. There’s a lot more pressure when you’re at the World Cup,’ Walsh said. ‘In these [qualifying] games, the worrying thing would be if we were not arriving in the final third. That would be a bigger problem. It’s the final pass, final cross and final shot. That was what was missing [on Friday]. I see the girls do that in training every day. They are fantastic at it. It’s just putting that in the game tomorrow and hopefully we will.’
One player who has taken on the scoring burden is Arsenal midfielder Georgia Stanway, England’s top scorer since Euro 2025 with 10 goals. She ranks inside the top three for most goals scored by European players in internationals and has a minutes-per-goal ratio of 81. Wiegman hopes others will follow her lead. ‘We got in good positions but then it’s staying onside, having the final pass, the right pass at the right moment, the run at the right time and deciding what cross, what cutback and whether to go for the far post,’ Wiegman said. ‘That is also about the connections between the players in those situations and taking out the counter-attack [threat].’
The issue may not be a lack of talent but where best to use it. Chelsea’s Lauren James has switched positions from winger to a number 10 and even a centre-forward on occasion. Injuries to strikers Aggie Beever-Jones and Michelle Agyemang have meant there is little competition for Alessia Russo in the number nine role. Lauren Hemp has been in fantastic form but is not known for her goalscoring prowess, while Beth Mead is used in midfield as well as in attack.
Former England striker Ellen White, who remains the Lionesses’ all-time top scorer, believes building connections and setting the right tempo is crucial. ‘You need to build your own rhythm. You can’t just whizz the ball around quickly all the time so you need players in midfield who can dictate it,’ White told the Women’s Football Weekly podcast. ‘You then have to have connections with players who are close to you, for example between a number 10 and a number nine. Fran Kirby was like a dream for me because she could always put the ball near me and I felt like we had a good connection. You have to build those.’
England’s goals are at least being spread around the team, with 11 different goalscorers since Euro 2025. Defenders Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter and Maya le Tissier have all netted in the past 18 months, while England’s number nine has added six to the tally. But the side are still not clinical and have not won any games in which they have trailed since the end of Euro 2025, losing to Brazil and Spain on those occasions. Regular starter Hemp, who has played 687 minutes, has scored just twice, while James has not found the back of the net in her past 425 minutes. Part of the problem has been that England have often come up against weaker opposition that sit in a low block and have found it hard to break them down.
Ex-England midfielder Fran Kirby said the movement around the box is vital. ‘The movement you have around the box is so important. You need to be unselfish in your movement,’ Kirby told the Women’s Football Weekly podcast. ‘You need runs in behind, even if they won’t get the ball. You have to entice teams to come out. You need one person to make a mistake and leave space. You also need to pass to someone who has a higher percentage shot position than you. It seemed rushed [against Greece] instead of controlled. You have to be intricate in and around the box.’
England’s second leg against Greece in Leicester will show whether Wiegman’s demand for ruthlessness has been absorbed. With a two-goal cushion, the Lionesses have room for error, but their recent history suggests they will need to be more clinical if they are to make the tie comfortable.