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<\/p>\nA resolute England gave their chances of \u00adautomatic qualification for 2027\u2019s World Cup a \u00adtremendous boost as they beat the world champions, Spain, at Wembley and demonstrated they are strong enough defensively to hold off the most technically gifted squad in the women\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
In a closely fought match in which both teams missed some \u00adgilt-edged opportunities, the sides were \u00adultimately separated by two moments where the ball bounced extremely close to the line; one where it did cross the goalline and another where it did not.<\/p>\n
Thankfully for England, Lauren Hemp\u2019s early effort did, whereas for Spain, Olga Carmona\u2019s deflected strike in the second half bounced down off the underside of the \u00adcrossbar and away to safety. That, plus a great reflex save from Hannah Hampton to deny Edna Imade at the death, gave the Lionesses a 1-0 win. On such margins, this qualification group may well be decided.<\/p>\n
Much like they did last summer in Basel, England tactically \u00adfrustrated Spain, as they met again for the first time since July\u2019s European \u00adChampionship final. There was very \u00adlittle between the teams yet again, as their rivalry continues to grow, and in the second half especially, both teams provided good entertainment for the 62,306 crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a team, we really fought,\u201d said a very satisfied Sarina Wiegman, after England\u2019s 499th women\u2019s international fixture. \u201cThis [game] demanded something different from us than we have recently shown, and we did it very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wiegman, whose side have three wins from three in qualifying at the halfway stage in the campaign, added: \u201cThe gameplan worked in both halves, although we would have liked to have the ball for a little bit longer in moments \u2013 when it\u2019s so hard, you just have to fight and stick together and communicate really well.<\/p>\n
\u201c Against Spain, you need to defend as a team really well, because their individual qualities are so high. We tried to annoy them a little bit and let them make mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s biggest error came at a third-minute corner, when England grabbed a priceless early goal thanks to some poor \u00addefending that allowed Alessia Russo to show good strength on the floor to somehow flick the ball inside for Hemp to volley at goal mid-swivel. Goalline technology confirmed that Hemp\u2019s effort rolled millimetres over the line before being hooked away by Alexia Putellas a fraction too late.<\/p>\n
Lauren Hemp scored the game\u2019s only goal in the opening minutes, with Alexia Putellas unable to stop her volley crossing the line. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
Having the lead enabled the \u00adEuropean champions to sit back and hit Spain on the \u00adcounterattack, and that worked. England looked very dangerous on the break and \u00adLauren James teased Ona Batlle before turning past her and driving a shot over. A terrific counter down England\u2019s right ended with Hemp\u2019s shot hitting the post after Lucy Bronze\u2019s well-timed backheel. Keira Walsh, captaining England on the night of her 100th international cap, also had a low strike blocked from the edge of the box.<\/p>\n
Spain also created big chances, though, and a Cl\u00e0udia Pina corner should have been headed goalwards but Irene Paredes nodded over the bar, before Patricia Guijarro\u2019s effort from outside the box was blocked. Later, after a neat move led to Batlle racing into the penalty area, she fired narrowly over Hampton\u2019s crossbar. Guijarro also saw a near-post flick at goal saved by Hampton. Spain looked typically impressive when it came to technical ability in midfield but England worked tirelessly off the ball.<\/p>\n
Spain were without the Ballon d\u2019Or winner Aitana Bonmat\u00ed, who is still recovering after breaking her leg late in 2025, and the absence of the best player in the world was evident. Yet they were still dangerous and were on top early in the second half when Carmona\u2019s deflected strike somehow stayed out.<\/p>\n
Quick GuideRoundup: Scotland rescue late draw, McCabe lifts IrelandShow<\/p>\n
Scotland\u00a0rescued a dramatic late draw at home to Belgium to stay top of their group in League B. Sari Kees gave Belgium a 15th-minute lead at Easter Road which lasted until deep into stoppage time, when Kathleen McGovern [pictured, right] turned the ball home. Topping the group would secure Nations League promotion, but also open up an easier playoff path to next year’s World Cup in this hybrid qualifying format.<\/p>\n
Wales cruised to a 4-0 home victory over Albania, with Hannah Cain scoring twice in Wrexham to make it six goals in her past four matches. Elise Hughes’ close-range effort and Rhiannon Roberts’ header completed the scoring. Wales are second in Group B1, behind Czechia on goal difference after they beat Montenegro 5-0.<\/p>\n
Michael McArdle began his Northern Ireland tenure with a comprehensive 4-0 home win over minnows Malta. Keri Halliday scored twice with Joely Andrews and Danielle Maxwell also on target as the hosts ended a six-game winless run and their first points of this qualifying campaign.<\/p>\n
In League A, Katie McCabe scored a superb volley and missed a penalty as the Republic of Ireland earned a vital 3-2 win in Poland. The visitors took a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, McCabe striking after Emily Murphy’s opener. Tanja Pawollek pulled one back before half-time before Marissa Sheva restored Ireland’s two-goal cushion. Ewa Pajor’s lob with 12 minutes to go, and McCabe’s late penalty miss, turned up the pressure but Ireland held on.<\/p>\n
The Netherlands moved top of Group A2 with a 2-1 win over France in Breda. Centre-back Renee van Asten broke the deadlock early on, but Sandy Baltimore levelled for France after 54 minutes. Esmee Brugts struck with 20 minutes left to leave France just three points above Ireland in the group.<\/p>\n
Denmark stunned neighbours Sweden to take charge of Group A1, with substitute Janni Thomsen scoring a late winner in Gothenburg. Sweden took an early lead through Jusu Bah but Pernille Harder levelled on the half-hour mark. Sweden slip to third in their group behind Italy, who thrashed Serbia 6-0 away from home.<\/p>\n
Germany stayed top of Group A4 with a 5-1 victory over Austria in Nuremberg. Nicole Anyomi opened the scoring with Vivien Endemann, Lea Sch\u00fcller and Jule Brand striking in the second half. Ada Hegerberg scored twice for Norway as they saw off Slovenia 5-0. Guardian sport<\/p>\n
Photograph: Stuart Wallace\/Shutterstock Editorial<\/p>\n
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The surprise pick in England\u2019s starting side was Lucia Kendall but she held her own against a \u00adworld-class midfield and had a great opportunity to score herself, but curled wide. Shortly afterwards Russo raced in behind the Spain defence to catch Bronze\u2019s perfect ball over the top, but dragged wide. Spain\u2019s Vicky L\u00f3pez then hit the post as the visitors continued to threaten, before Imade was thwarted by Hampton\u2019s instinctive reaction stop, which was praised by Wiegman as being a \u201ccrucial save\u201d.<\/p>\n
England keeper Hannah Hampton\u2019s reaction save from Spain\u2019s Edna Imade in the final minutes ensured she kept a clean sheet. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
It was a first defeat for the Spain head coach, Sonia Berm\u00fadez, in her seventh game in charge and Spain\u2019s first loss since the Euros final. \u00adEngland, though, top the group and will now know that \u2013 if they maintain their winning form away against \u00adIceland and then at home to Ukraine in June \u2013 a draw in the reverse fixture in \u00adMallorca will be enough to send them to Brazil as group winners and avoid the playoffs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A resolute England gave their chances of \u00adautomatic qualification for 2027\u2019s World Cup a \u00adtremendous boost as they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-607409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}