England holds a two-goal advantage in their Women’s World Cup playoff tie following a 3-1 victory against Greece in the first leg. While manager Sarina Wiegman expressed satisfaction with the result, she admitted the team’s performance felt somewhat “sloppy” at times, noting that her side could have played with greater cohesion against their 59th-ranked opponents.
The scoring was opened by Georgia Stanway, who netted with a precise finish. Maya Le Tissier followed up by recording her first-ever international goal, and Alessia Russo added a third with a low strike. Greece managed a late goal through Rangers player Kallisti Brouksair, which leaves the tie alive heading into Tuesday’s return fixture in Leicester. Wiegman praised the Greek team’s defensive organization, stating, “I think we made it a bit harder for ourselves. Of course, I’m happy with the 3-1. I’m not happy with the 1.” “I think we made it a bit harder [for ourselves],” Wiegman said, while also giving credit to Greece for being “very well-prepared, very well-organised and very disciplined”, before adding: “Of course, I’m happy with the 3-1.
England dominated possession but occasionally lacked intensity, appearing to go through the motions against a Greek side that has never reached a major tournament. The atmosphere at the stadium remained flat, with the traveling crowd of 500 England supporters providing the majority of the noise despite the Hellenic Football Federation offering free tickets for the game. In the first half, a Lauren James strike was disallowed by VAR for offside, while Greece nearly took a shock lead when Ionna Papatheodorou’s effort rattled the woodwork after she bypassed the English defense. Instead, around 500 travelling England fans were generating the majority of the noise. Aside from a few isolated moments such as a delicious chip from 25 yards out from Lauren James, which drew a gasp of appreciation from the away fans as it hit the net and they thought England had taken the lead, it meant that the first 45 minutes were largely forgettable and lacking in real quality. Pushing Le Tissier very high up the pitch as a right wing-back, and with a back four when out of possession, england were playing with a back three when in possession. They were untroubled defensively except for a huge let-off at 0-0 when the Greece striker Ionna Papatheodorou hit the woodwork.
The second half proved more productive for the Lionesses. Le Tissier converted a strong finish after creative build-up play involving Keira Walsh, and Russo increased the lead shortly after. England’s defensive lapse shortly thereafter, however, allowed Brouksair to score after a bouncing ball was not successfully cleared by Esme Morgan. Despite further efforts from James and substitute Jess Park hitting the woodwork, the lead remained at two goals. The match also saw Grace Fisk and Erica Meg Parkinson earn their senior international debuts. But struck the bar, she eased past Esme Morgan and Leah Williamson with alarming ease and her shot from range looked to have beaten Hannah Hampton. England, who had gone close when Laura Blindkilde Brown shot straight at the goalkeeper, James curled a free-kick wide and Lauren Hemp drilled a low shot narrowly wide across the face of goal, eventually found their breakthrough when Blindkilde Brown played a quick ball to Russo, whose good touch to lay the ball off for Stanway allowed the midfielder to slot in low.
Looking ahead, England hopes to finalize their progression in Tuesday’s second leg. Should they succeed, they will advance to face either Slovakia or Ukraine in the next qualifying round. Wiegman remains focused on refinement, stating, “We want to show more than winning; we want to play really well, too. We’ve seen some fluid moments, but we need the final balls and the positions in front of the goal to be better.” At the same time, England did lack their usual zip, charisma and urgency and their body language suggested they were focused on the job at hand, rather than enjoying themselves, it would be too much of a stretch to describe it as a bad performance but.
Elsewhere in the playoff action, the Republic of Ireland secured a dominant 8-0 victory over Kazakhstan in Astana, with Kyra Carusa scoring twice. Scotland claimed a 2-0 win away to Czechia behind second-half goals from Caroline Weir and Claire Emslie. Wales managed a narrow 1-0 win in Albania courtesy of an Ezmiralda Franja own goal. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualification hopes suffered a significant blow after they fell 4-0 at home to Portugal.
