England Claim 3-1 Aggregate Lead Over Greece in Women’s World Cup Qualifying Play-Off

England beat Greece 3-1 in Crete to secure a first-leg advantage in their 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Play-Off tie.

Georgia Stanway’s 39th-minute finish plus second-half goals from Maya Le Tissier and Alessia Russo has put England in control of the tie, despite, Calliste Brouksair’s 79th-minute counter-attack finish to give Greece faint hope of a second-leg comeback.

England now host Greece in the return leg at King Power Stadium on Tuesday 13 October at 7:30pm BST.

Despite 55 places separating Greece and England in the world rankings, the hosts hadn’t lost at home this year prior to kick off and unsurprisingly adopted a tight resilient press to limit England’s attacking play from the back.

England consequently endured limited chances in the first half as Georgia Stanway dragged a seventh-minute shot wide of the far-bottom left corner.

Lauren James however broke the deadlock with a 20th-minute lob over Rafaella Petaloti from a direct central pass, only for Video Assistant-Referee (VAR) to disallow the goal because James was offside when the pass was played forward.

Greece however proved a threat on the counter-attack as Ionna Papatheodorou unleashed a powerful 34th-minute strike from nearly 30 yards, yet her shot ricocheted off the crossbar.

That wasted chance soon proved costly as just five minutes later, Laura Blindkilde Brown played Russo forward but the striker opted to tee up Stanway to sweep her pass into the net past Petaloti to put the Lionesses ahead at half time.

England maintained their pressure early in the second half as Russo saw a shot saved by Petaloti in the 55th minute.

Greece’s resistance eventually broke in the 63rd minute as Le Tissier cut in from the right flank to meet Keira Walsh’s side-pass into the box, and the 24-year-old on her 15th international appearance smashed her maiden goal in off the palms of Petalotti.

England soon found further confidence and just four minutes later, Russo added a third goal after she met Beth Mead’s pass and slotted on the half-turn into her near-bottom left corner.

Greece however provided a 78th-minute reminder of their counter-attacking threat as Papatheodorou teed up Brouksair, who calmly rifled in beyond Hannah Hampton to reduce the hosts’ deficit.

England now hold a 3-1 aggregate lead heading into the second leg on Tuesday evening, with a place against Slovakia or Ukraine awaiting the winner in the next play-off round.

 

Teams

Greece: Rafaella Petaloti, Vasiliki Giannaka, Maria Gouni, Eleni Markou, Maria Paterna, Eleftheria Drakogiannaki (Kongouli 78′), Efi Brame (Saich 68′), Athanasia Moraitou (Chalatsogianni 68′), Veatriki Sarri (Tzourtzevits 87′), Ionna Papatheodorou (Pouliou 87′), Calliste Brouksair

Substitutes: Georgia Chalatsogianni, Matina Ntarzanou, Dimitra Giannakouli, Maria Kapnisi, Styliani Katergiannaki, Sophia Kongouli, Grigoria Pouliou, Marianna Rapani, Eleni Saich, Marina Theodoraki, Griselda Tsela, Ilektra Tzourtzevits 

England: Hannah Hampton, Maya Le Tissier, Leah Williamson, Esme Morgan (Fisk 90′), Alex Greenwood, Keira Walsh, Laura Blindkilde Brown (Mead 46′), Georgia Stanway, Lauren James (Parkinson 85′), Alessia Russo (Park 73′), Lauren Hemp

Substitutes: Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, Grace Fisk, Freya Godfrey, Khiara Keating, Beth Mead, Anna Moorhouse, Jess Park, Erica Meg Parkinson, Lexi Potter, Ella Toone