England Beat Ukraine 3-0 as Both Teams Head for Women’s World Cup Play-Offs

England beat Ukraine 3-0 to finish their 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifying campaign on a high as the play-offs beckon.

Jess Carter’s header and Georgia Stanway’s close-range finish put England in firm control at half time, before Beth Mead curled in a 67th-minute free-kick to wrap up victory at Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool, which became the 22nd stadium to host an England home match under Sarina Wiegman.

Spain secured automatic qualification as League A3 winners with a 6-1 win away to third-placed Iceland, whilst England finished second and rock-bottom Ukraine were relegated to League B for the 2027 UEFA Women’s Nations League.

England will now participate in the Qualifying Play-Offs alongside Iceland and Ukraine this autumn, with the trio set to discover their play-off paths when the draw is made on 18 June.

The first play-off round will take place between 7-13 October across two legs with the winners of that stage progressing to the second play-off round, which is scheduled for between 26 November – 5 December and will too be across two legs.

With automatic qualification out of their own hands after their shambolic defeat to Spain, England began on the front foot as Lauren Hemp saw a fourth-minute effort saved by Kateryna Boklach.

In the reverse fixture back in March, England endured a wastefully dominant first half and looked set to once again endure that fate when Lauren James curled a 11th-minute shot onto the crossbar.

Spain meanwhile took the lead against Iceland in Reykjavik to dampen England’s automatic qualification hopes.

England eventually found a first-half breakthrough three minutes later as a corner fell for James on the edge of the box, which allowed the left-winger to dink a cross towards the left post where Carter was alert to nod the delivery in.

Boklach though proved difficult beat as she saved a further shot from Hemp, whilst Maya Le Tissier and Russo fired wide.

Wiegman’s Lionesses doubled their lead in the 37th minute as neat play on the left flank fell to the feet of Keira Walsh, and the midfielder slipped Russo through to hit a left-footed cross across the goal for Stanway to poke into the right corner.

Spain however made sure that England had no hope of snatching automatic qualification, as Edna Imade and Salma Paralluelo doubled the World Champions’ lead in Reykjavik to effectively seal their spot at the World Cup in Brazil next summer.

England’s focus however remained solely on securing their win over Ukraine irrespective of events in Reykjavik, as Georgia Stanway saw shots blocked and Niamh Charles nodded wide.

Ukrainian substitute, Viktoriya Radionova eventually was at fault for England’s third goal with a 66th-minute tug on Hemp on the edge of the box, which allowed Mead to curl the subsequent free-kick into the far-right corner to go joint-fifth in the all-time goalscoring list with Fara Williams.

Ukraine however offered more attacking threats at time in the second half as Inna Hlushchenko went closest with a 54th-minute shot, which she smashed wide after she was forced out wide to the left under defensive pressure.

England ultimately clung on for a comfortable victory despite Boklach’s 87th-minute block of Mead’s long-range strike, and now go into the Qualifying Play-Offs on a more positive note.

 

Teams

England: Hannah Hampton, Maya Le Tissier, Jess Carter, Esme Morgan (Greenwood 46′), Niamh Charles (Kelly 65′), Georgia Stanway (Park 65′), Keira Walsh (Kendall 82′), Laura Blindkilde Brown, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo, Lauren James (Mead 46′)

Substitutes: Sophie Baggaley, Aggie Beever-Jones, Grace Fisk, Alex Greenwood, Chloe Kelly, Lucia Kendall, Beth Mead, Anna Moorhouse, Jess Park, Ella Toone, Lucy Bronze, Lotte Wubben-Moy

Ukraine: Kateryna Boklach, Alina Savka, Lesia Olkhova, Lyubov Shmatko, Maryna Shainiuk, Yana Kotyk, Lidiia Zaborovets, Yelyzaveta Molodiuk, Svitlana Kohut (Hlushchenko 46′), Nadiya Kunina (Radionova 46′(, Tanya Boychuk (Podolska 68′)

Substitutes: Olga Basanska, Inna Hlushchenko, Viktoriia Holovach, Dariia Deliushyk, Yuliia Khrystiuk, Iryna Kotiash, Iryna Podolska, Viktoriya Radionova, Kateryna Samson, Dayana Semkiv

Referee – Emanuela Rusta (Albania)