HERAKLION — England took a valuable first-leg lead in its Women's World Cup qualifying play-off with a 3-1 victory over Greece on Friday night at the stadium in Heraklion, Crete, as Sarina Wiegman's back-to-back European champions moved a step closer to Brazil next year. Georgia Stanway, England's top scorer this year, opened the scoring after a neat passing move, and the Lionesses will host the second leg on Tuesday in Leicester (19:30 BST) with the winner advancing to face Ukraine or Slovakia for a place at the World Cup.
Manchester United captain Maya le Tissier was the standout after replacing Lucy Bronze, who withdrew from the squad with a minor injury earlier in the week. Wiegman sees Le Tissier as a right-back rather than a centre-back, her position at United, and handed her a start for her 15th cap. She delivered with her first international goal in the 63rd minute. "As soon as we were in possession, she was higher on the pitch and she already came close to a couple of moments with crosses," said Wiegman. "I'm very happy for her and for the whole team because that was an important goal."
The result was only England's third win in its past eight competitive away games, and Wiegman admitted frustration at not keeping a clean sheet given the gulf in class. Familiar lapses in concentration gave Greece chances, with Ioanna Papatheodorou striking the crossbar in the first half before teeing up Kallisti Brouksair for the hosts' goal, both from England errors. "That's up to us. We have to show up on Tuesday, play a good game and then we should be better than Greece," said Wiegman. "Of course we want to take some more distance [in the scoreline], that's absolutely true, but at the same time we won and that's the most important thing."
With victory secure, Wiegman handed debuts to Liverpool captain Grace Fisk, 28, who waited more than six years after her first England call-up in 2020, and 18-year-old Erica Meg Parkinson, who came on in the 85th minute. Parkinson, who joined North Carolina Courage from Portuguese side Valadares Gaia this summer after a rapid rise from England Under-23s, was praised by defender Esme Morgan: "She's a really intelligent player. She has incredibly good movement and timing, picking up pockets for players to find her." Her introduction added to the debate over England's No. 10, where Chelsea forward Lauren James was given a free role and had a nonchalant 30-yard lob ruled out for offside. Laura Blindkilde Brown started in that position alongside James, with Grace Clinton, Ella Toone, Beth Mead and Jess Park also options after Lucia Kendall dropped out. "I see there is a lot of competition in that position, where we have a lot of options with different players, who have different qualities," said Wiegman. "You can call it a question mark but I call it many options."
The Lionesses are not used to the play-off route after finishing runners-up to world champions Spain in their qualifying group, and they faced an eerie atmosphere with fewer than 4,000 fans in the 26,000-capacity stadium in Heraklion, a venue choice questioned by local media who asked why the game was not in Athens. England struggled at times against a well-prepared and disciplined Greece press and lacked ruthlessness despite dominance. "We could have scored more than the three goals. There are lots of things to take. I have seen some fluid moments but I want more," said Wiegman. "The final ball, final cross and the positions can be better."