Two dominant displays place Lionesses top of World Cup qualifying group

The Lionesses kicked off their qualifying campaign for the 2027 World Cup this past week with 2 out of 2 wins- starting off with a 6-1 victory vs Ukraine, a fixture played in Antalya, before returning home to face Iceland, which saw England run out a 2-0 win.

The Lionesses welcomed back many familiar faces this camp after missing key players through injury, with the likes of Leah Williamson, Lauren James and Hannah Hampton returning after various spells on the sidelines. England started their campaign playing Ukraine at a neutral ground in Turkey, amidst the conflict happening in the home side’s country. Wiegman put out a fairly rotated line-up, fully utilising her squad, with Maya Le Tissier, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Laura Blindkilde-Brown making rare appearances in the starting XI, whilst Captain Williamson donned the armband for the first time since the Euros final.

Iceland fought hard, battling to contain England, who went into the break with just the one goal lead

The first half saw England dominant in possession, but wasteful in front of goal, and went in at half time 0-0. After the break however, they came out the blocks firing, Alessia Russo getting the scoring underway in the 47th minute- before making it a brace for herself just 4 minutes later. Ukraine fought back, and a rare set piece opportunity saw Yana Kalinina fire past Hampton to half the deficit just before the hour mark. However this was short lived, with the Lionesses restoring their two goal lead with a Georgia Stanway penalty after Lauren Hemp was brought down in the area. Stanway scored again minutes later to make it 4-1 with a sweet top corner effort, before she turned provider for Jess Park to tap home. Park then doubled her account for the night with a lovely curling effort after cutting in from the left, capping off a stunning display which saw 3 Lionesses bag themselves a brace, decimating Ukraine 6-1.

England then saw themselves up against a tougher test vs Iceland, playing on home soil against the 16th ranked team in the world. Wiegman opted for a stronger XI this time around, with the likes of Lauren James starting the match after a late cameo vs Ukraine. She almost immediately showed why, gliding through the Iceland defenders all game. She provided a moment of magic for the opening goal, as her perfectly weighted cross found Lucy Bronze, whose looping header hit the back of the net in the 22nd minute, scoring on her 145th cap for England. Iceland fought hard, battling to contain England, who went into the break with just the one goal lead. The away side pushed hard for a goal, forcing Hampton into a spectacular save on the hour mark to deny Iceland an equaliser through a Sandra Jessen header.

Spain will undoubtedly provide the toughest match up in the group, a rematch of the Euros final

England however, kept knocking on the door, and eventually saw themselves 2-0 up in the 78th minute. Stanway fired home with a lovely first time volley from Bronze’s cross, allowing the Lionesses breathing space to close off another well rounded display with a 2-0 scoreline.

These victories see the Lionesses top their qualifying group – which contains Spain, Iceland and Ukraine -after the first round of fixtures, level on points with Spain who also saw out wins vs these teams, but bettering them with a goal difference of 7 to Spain’s 5. Spain will undoubtedly provide the toughest match up in the group, a rematch of the Euros final, and will have a key role in deciding who tops the boagroup, when the European Champions take on the World Champions at Wembley in April.