Ella Toone has been recalled to the England squad for the Women’s World Cup playoff against Greece, and Sarina Wiegman has praised the Manchester United midfielder for the way she dealt with being left out of the group in the first place.
Toone was omitted from Wiegman’s initial squad, along with Chloe Kelly, with the head coach saying at the time that “the levels weren’t what I expect from them on the pitch”. Her route back in opened when Lucy Bronze picked up an injury — described by Wiegman as “really small” — that took the England right-back back to Chelsea. Rather than call up a replacement right-back, Wiegman turned to Toone, whose experience is understood to have been a factor in the decision. The midfielder travelled to Greece from Spain, where she had organised a training routine during the international window.
The response from Toone herself was swift. After starting Manchester United’s victory over Liverpool on Saturday, she told the BBC: “It’s about me now. I’ve got to keep working hard and use it as fuel to come back even better.”
Asked whether that reaction had impressed her, Wiegman said: “Yes, very much. I think when I gave her the call, of course that was a hard call. But she took that straight away. Of course [she was] very disappointed, but the first thing she did [was say]: ‘OK, I’m going to get back, I’m going to do that.’ She has the support around her too.”
The head coach also referenced Toone’s post-match comments, adding: “That answer in the game, also the way she spoke about it, I thought that was really good. And then getting everything ready to go to Spain instead, but go for training there, I think that really impressed me. Well done, I would say.”
Toone, who has 69 caps and 24 goals for England — including strikes in the Euro 2022 final and the 2023 World Cup semi-final — could feature on Friday at the Pankritio Stadium in Heraklion, Crete, where the first leg kicks off at 5.30pm BST. England will hope to build a strong lead before Tuesday’s return fixture in Leicester. The European champions must overcome Greece and then win another two-leg playoff, against Slovakia or Ukraine in December, to reach next summer’s finals in Brazil. The World Cup draw follows on 11 December.
England, the 2023 runners-up, are in the playoffs despite winning five of their six qualifying matches. They were edged to top spot in their group by Spain, the defending champions, on head-to-head goal difference. Greece, by contrast, have never qualified for a major tournament and go into the tie as major underdogs, likely to set up in a low, defensive shape.
The England defender Esme Morgan said she and her teammates would remain calm even if it takes time to break their opponents down. “It’s just [about] persistence and trying not to get drawn into being frustrated by the opposition,” she said, pointing to the away qualifier in Ukraine as an example. “We couldn’t seem to break through in the first half — the keeper was making saves, I think we struck the woodwork a couple of times — but the messaging at half-time among the players and when Sarina came in to speak to us was just to keep continuing because we were creating opportunities. Not to start snatching or taking hot shots from distance, just trusting in the style of play that we have and in our ability to keep finding gaps in and around the defence. We came out for the second half after that and scored really, really quickly. So it’s just sticking to the gameplan, trusting in what we do and being patient.”
Wiegman’s probable England team in Crete is (4-2-3-1): Hampton; Le Tissier, Morgan, Williamson, Greenwood; Stanway, Walsh; Mead, James, Hemp; Russo.