England conclude their 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifying campaign against Ukraine.
With automatic qualification now out of their hands, England now need one of the following two scenarios to play out in order for them to qualify:
- England will automatically qualify with a win if Spain fail to beat Iceland in Reykjavik.
- England will automatically qualify with a draw if Spain lose to Iceland.
Should both England and Spain win or lose then it will be Spain who automatically qualify due to their better head-to-head record.
Ukraine will finish bottom of League A3 and be relegated to League B irrespective of their result in this match.
Team News
England have no fresh injury concerns to report after their 4-0 loss against Spain in Mallorca.
Khiara Keating won’t join up with the squad after concussion protocols saw her miss the trip to Mallorca, meaning that Sophie Baggaley will remain with the squad for this match.
Ukraine too have no fresh injury concerns after they lost 1-0 against Iceland/
When is Kick-Off?
England host Ukraine at Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool, on Tuesday 9 June at 8pm BST, live on ITV1 and ITVX in the UK.
Stat Attack
- England have won each of their three previous Women’s World Cup Qualifiers against Ukraine (W3).
- Ukraine lost 4-0 in their only previous Women’s World Cup away qualifier against England in May 2014, which was played at Shrewsbury Town’s New Meadow.
- Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses haven’t conceded at home in this Women’s World Cup Qualifying Group (W2), having beat Iceland 2-0 in March then Spain 1-0 in April.
- Ukraine have conceded six goals in their two away qualifiers in this group (L2), having lost 1-0 against Iceland then 5-0 against Spain in April’s round of qualifying fixtures.
Prediction
After their awful second-rate performance against Spain in Mallorca on Friday evening, England have to buck up their ideas and produce a strong performance to at least give themselves a fighting chance at automatic qualification however unlikely it seems now.
Ukraine will feel disappointed to had not got a draw against Iceland in a close game where they weren’t clinical enough, but this is now a free hit for them given that they are relegated so have absolutely nothing to lose.
I however do think that Friday’s defeat is the kick that England needed to improve and I fancy Sarina Wiegman to give more of the young players a chance, but still get the job done on their part and hope that Iceland do them a big miraculous favour in Reykjavik.
Prediction: England 2-0 Ukraine
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