England’s coach has given a wake-up call to her whole squad by leaving out two heroes of 2022 and 2025

Sarina Wiegman sent a clear message to two of England’s biggest names on Tuesday and – in doing so, irrespective of reputations – fired the same warning to every player: perform for your club or you will not go to the World Cup.

Wiegman was unequivocal with her reasoning for leaving Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly out of her squad for October’s playoff against Greece. Her straight-to-the-point and typically honest style made it inescapably clear, when she said: “The main reason is that I think the levels weren’t what I expect from them on the pitch.”

• England to play Ukraine or Slovakia if they beat Greece

• Scotland probably face Sweden if they win first game

England will need to overcome Greece and either Slovakia or Ukraine to qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Scotland were handed a significantly tougher draw and will probably need to beat Sweden, if they first beat Czechia, to head to Brazil.

Thursday’s playoff draw brought Wales a potential reunion with their former manager Gemma Grainger in a tricky tie against Norway. Northern Ireland’s path to a first World Cup could bring them a game against League A’s Iceland.

Footballers, charity founders, actors and musicians among those celebrated for service to Britain

Six members of the Lionesses’ victorious Euro 2025 squad have been made MBEs in King Charles’s birthday honours list, while the actor Dame Helen Mirren has been made a Companion of Honour for services to drama.

They are joined by the former rugby league player Kevin Sinfield, who has been knighted for his campaigning and fundraising to tackle motor neurone disease.

• England 3-0 Ukraine

• Carter 14, Stanway 37, Mead 67

Sarina Wiegman calmly asserted that she was confident England will still qualify for next summer’s World Cup, despite having to settle for a place in the playoffs as Spain’s 6-1 win in Iceland forced England to finish in second spot.

England cruised to victory over Ukraine on Merseyside but the result proved insignificant with Spain getting the result they needed. The Lionesses finish this group with 15 points from a possible 18 but miss out on a precious automatic spot in Brazil because of their inferior head-to-head record against Spain, after Friday’s humbling 4-0 loss in Mallorca.

⚽ Updates from the Group A3 fixture; kick-off 8pm BST
⚽ Mail Will | Hemp backs team to bounce back

ITV are not particularly interested in this game, they have spoken about Friday night for about 15 mins. Look forward, folks.

Sarina Wiegman: “Every game you don’t win, it hurts. Friday was a hard one because we didn’t create any momentum.

• European champions beaten 4-0 in Mallorca on Friday

• Hemp: ‘As a group, we’ve come together and stuck together’

Lauren Hemp says the England squad are sticking together after their heavy defeat against Spain on Friday and have vowed to bounce back from that setback when they face Ukraine in their final Women’s World Cup qualifier at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The European champions were outplayed in a 4-0 defeat in Mallorca where they missed the chance to secure automatic qualification for the tournament in Brazil next summer, with Spain leapfrogging them at the top of the group. By virtue of their stronger head-to-head record against England, Spain have the group’s sole automatic qualification spot firmly in their hands.

England’s heaviest defeat for decades does not signal the end for Sarina Wiegman’s European champions

It was a tough night for Sarina Wiegman and her charges at the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix. England’s biggest loss since a 6-2 defeat by Germany in the Euro 2009 final and their first loss in a qualifier since 2002 shattered their ambition of securing top spot in their 2027 World Cup group and automatic qualification for the finals in Brazil.

The 4-0 scoreline was bruising, but the performance against Spain even more so and there was no sugar-coating by Wiegman. Her England side “didn’t play good enough”, “couldn’t get into another gear” and “hardly got into the 18 yard box”.

England were outclassed in Mallorca and would have been better served by trying to contain the world champions

As the game ticked into second-half stoppage time, Spain were almost showboating, Aitana Bonmatí flicking the ball around the pitch with grace, style and a swagger that sent out an emphatic message: Spain are significantly better than England.

On a balmy evening in Palma, the world champions taught the European champions a painful lesson. The scoreline was one thing but, more alarmingly, the undeniable gulf in technical ability between the teams gave the Lionesses a brutal reality check, a year out from the Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

• Spain 4-0 England

• Guijarro 19, Putellas 37 55, Pina 78

Only a minor miracle will save European champions England from having to come through World Cup qualifying playoffs after they suffered an utterly humiliating 4-0 defeat by World Cup holders Spain in Mallorca.

A loss by only a one-goal deficit would have been enough to keep England’s hopes of topping their qualifying group alive after an immaculate campaign prior to this. However, with the head-to-head record between the top two sides coming into play should they finish level on points, this emphatic win, with talismanic Alexia Putellas scoring two, means Spain just need to beat Iceland on Tuesday to secure top spot at England’s expense.

Spain ran rampant against England with goals from Patri Guijarro, Alexia Putellas and Clàudia Pina to move top of their World Cup qualifying group

On the ground: What an atmosphere inside this stadium, with almost every single Spain fan waving their national flag in their air as the anthems are played. They respectfully applauded after ‘God save the King’ and then really upped their noise levels. High up here in the top tier of the stands, we have a view of the mountains to our left and the sea to our right. The sun is setting and the scene is very picturesque.

2 min: López and Imade try to combine but James is all the way back and wins the ball back. Caldentey then plays a good ball in but Bronze deals with it eventually with an awkward header away.

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The shortlists for the Men’s and Women’s PFA players’ awards have been revealed. Arsenal’s Premier League-winning trio of Declan Rice, Gabriel and David Raya all feature while Bunny Shaw and Yui Hasegawa have both been nominated for the Women’s Player of the Year award after helping Manchester City to title glory.

Men’s Players’ Player of the Year nominations

England are upbeat going into the toughest fixture in international football but the hosts’ threat will be amplified by the returning Bonmatí

The equation sounds simple: avoid defeat on Friday and England will qualify automatically for the Women’s World Cup. The reality of the task ahead is far more complicated. Facing the world champions, Spain, like the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range that towers into the sky behind the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix, is an imposing barrier between the Lionesses and Brazil 2027.

A positive result in Mallorca would do more than guarantee England a shot at glory next summer. It would send a powerful statement that England remain a force to be reckoned with if they can tame the game’s greatest technical midfield, again.

• Iceland 0-1 England

• Russo goal and Hampton saves keep Lionesses top of group

Snow-capped mountains provided an idyllic backdrop to a less impressive performance, but England’s 1-0 win over Iceland ensured they maintained a three-point gap over Spain in their bid to earn an automatic place at the 2027 World Cup.

Only the four League A teams who top their groups will avoid the playoffs and qualify automatically, and with the European and world champions drawn in the same group, one will be left frustrated and with more games required to book their trip to Brazil.

⚽️ World Cup 2027 qualifying news, 5.30pm BST kick-off
⚽️ England face landmark 500th game | Mail Xaymaca

5 min: Almost a huge mistake from Cecilía Rúnarsdóttir! She stumbles over the ball on her goal line and Russo almost punishes her with a tap in. The Iceland goalkeeper eventually manages to poke the ball away from danger.

3 min: England are already dominating possession while Iceland will likely rely on counter attacks and set pieces.

Sarina Wiegman’s side followed up Euro 2025 final glory with another defensively minded win over biggest rivals

As the seconds ran down, the tension was palpable around Wembley. Hearts were in mouths as Hannah Hampton made a world-class save from point-blank range to keep out Edna Imade’s header. Every sinew was stretched by Keira Walsh as she stuck out a head and then a boot to scramble away yet another delivery into the box, every single ounce of energy eked out to protect Lauren Hemp’s third-minute goal, a moment that felt like it belonged to another era of time.

Despite the apparent commotion on the field and the anxiety of the spectators in the stands, there was, however, very little panic evident on the faces of the 11 Lionesses on the field. Instead there was an aura of confidence about them, a true belief that they would get the job done. They cut an image of a team that had been there and done it all before and completed the task at hand on a far more stressful stage than the hallowed Wembley turf.

• World Cup qualifier: England 1-0 Spain (Hemp 3’)

• Lionesses win sides’ first meeting since Euros final

A resolute England gave their chances of ­automatic qualification for 2027’s World Cup a ­tremendous 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’s game.

In a closely fought match in which both teams missed some ­gilt-edged opportunities, the sides were ­ultimately 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.

⚽ Updates from the Group A3 qualifier; kick-off 7pm BST
⚽ Moving the Goalposts | Follow on Bluesky | Mail Simon

1 min: And we’re off! Spain get the game started.

Right then, nothing between us and football but a few seconds and a whistle.

Reigning champions have a new coach and some new faces when they face the Lionesses in Women’s World Cup qualifier

Eight-and-a-half months after they locked horns in the final of Euro 2025, England and Spain meet again on Tuesday night in front of more than 70,000 at Wembley. This time it is in qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup, another tournament in which they met in the final last time out.

Despite the relatively brief period since the game in Basel, Spain have a noticeably fresh look with a new head coach and a crop of emerging young players. They have already won a trophy under Sonia Bermúdez, who led them to the Nations League title after replacing Montse Tomé, and, unlike England, are unbeaten since the Euros with five wins and a draw in six matches.

• Bay FC forward Barry in for injured Freya Godfrey

• Lionesses face Spain and Iceland in qualifiers

The Bay FC forward Keira Barry has received her first senior England call-up after being added to Sarina Wiegman’s squad for Women’s World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Iceland alongside the fit-again Chelsea full-back Niamh Charles.

Their additions come after the London City Lionesses forward Freya Godfrey withdrew because of a shoulder injury. Barry, promoted for the Under-23s squad, is a product of Manchester United’s academy and also played for clubs including Crystal Palace and Sunderland before signing for Bay FC in February.

• Teenager plays in Portugal for Valadares Gaia

• Lionesses face Spain and Iceland in World Cup qualifiers

Sarina Wiegman said she left the 17‑year‑old Erica Meg Parkinson speechless with her first call-up to the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Iceland.

The shock inclusion of the Singapore-born midfielder, who plays for the Portuguese first division side Valadares Gaia, comes less than six months after her first call-up to England Under-23s, amid a rapid rise through the Lionesses’ youth setup.