England are two matches away from securing their place at the World Cup after a 5-0 dismantling of Greece at the King Power Stadium completed an 8-1 aggregate victory in their qualifying playoff semi-final. Lauren James and Alessia Russo both scored twice and Georgia Stanway was also on target as Sarina Wiegman’s side set up a playoff final against Ukraine in November and December.
Any notion of a Greek smash-and-grab, after their hugely impressive performance in the 3-1 first-leg defeat in Crete, was extinguished inside three minutes. Russo opened the scoring with England’s first shot and first attack of the game, latching on to James’s driving run and pass, shrugging off Eleni Markou’s challenge and firing a low shot into the net. It was her fourth goal in four games for club and country, having gone five Women’s Super League matches without one before this run.
James then took over. Her first, on 16 minutes, came after she cushioned Maya Le Tissier’s pass and sent a rising drive goalwards with her left foot. Stanway headed England’s third into the far corner from Lauren Hemp’s chipped cross on the half-hour, before James added her second — and England’s fourth — from close range, turning in another Hemp delivery while unmarked.
It was an emphatic opening period: England converted four of their six shots on target before the break and allowed Greece only 16% possession. The only disappointment was the debutant Lexi Potter’s goal being ruled out for a challenge by Stanway on Markou that the referee, Rasa Grigone, deemed a foul. With the job well and truly done, James was withdrawn at half-time in favour of Beth Mead.
England resumed where they had left off. Stanway thought she had scored again after bringing the ball down in mid-air with an outstretched foot and firing a half-volley into the net, only for VAR to rule it out on the narrowest of offside calls. Wiegman used the cushion of the scoreline to rotate further at the hour mark, with Niamh Charles, Jess Park and Freya Godfrey given the chance to show why they should be on the plane to Brazil. Russo had the final say, collecting Keira Walsh’s angled pass, racing clear, stepping around the goalkeeper, Styliani Katergiannaki, and rolling the ball into the empty net on 75 minutes.
Wiegman had called for improvement in the final third beforehand, listing staying onside, the final pass, the right pass at the right moment, the run at the right time and choosing the right option as her priorities. Greece’s task was always steep: England sit more than 50 places above them in the Fifa world rankings, a gulf far more evident in Leicester than it had been in Heraklion. Chants of “we want six” rang round the ground as added time approached, though another goal never arrived.
Ukraine await in the playoff final, having beaten Slovakia 4-1 on aggregate. England have already met them in this qualifying campaign, winning 9-1 on aggregate earlier in the year, so it would take a collapse of extraordinary proportions for Wiegman’s side to miss out on Brazil now.
Elsewhere, Scotland reached round two of the playoffs with a 3-2 win over Czechia, having led 2-0 from the first leg, despite losing Caroline Weir to an injury in the warm-up. Melissa Andreatta’s side fell behind to Denisa Vesela’s 30-yard strike, levelled through Lauren Davidson, trailed again to Klara Cahynova’s header, and then won it after Kathleen McGovern equalised early in the second half and Christy Grimshaw pounced when goalkeeper Barbora Votikova spilled a cross from the substitute Erin Cuthbert. Scotland will take on Sweden, who beat Lithuania 10-0 on the night and 15-0 on aggregate, in a two-legged tie between 26 November and 5 December, with Scotland at home first. “We stuck to our principles, ground out a result and that puts us in a good place for what’s ahead,” Andreatta said.
Wales moved closer to a first World Cup appearance with a 3-0 win over Albania at Parc y Scarlets, sealing a 4-0 aggregate triumph and extending their unbeaten run to a national record 10 matches. Mayzee Davies headed the opener, with Elise Hughes and Hannah Cain striking after half-time. Rhian Wilkinson’s side will next face Norway in December; Norway are ranked 13th in the world, 18 places above Wales. Northern Ireland lost 3-1 to Portugal to go out 7-1 on aggregate despite Kess Elmore scoring on her first start, while the Republic of Ireland completed a 12-0 aggregate win over Kazakhstan following an 8-0 first-leg victory, with Jessie Stapleton, Katie McCabe, Lucy Quinn and Denise O’Sullivan among the scorers. They meet Poland over two legs in December.