Spain Women 4-0 England: Sarina Wiegman has urged her players to react as biggest loss in 17 years makes automatic World Cup qualification unlikely

Sarina Wiegman has urged her players to ‘stick together’ after the hurt of suffering their heaviest defeat in 17 years.

The Lionesses were outclassed in a 4-0 defeat to Spain in Mallorca which means automatic qualification to the 2027 World Cup is now out of their hands.

Goals from Pati Guijarro, Claudia Pina and a double from Alexia Putellas put England to the sword, leaving them second in Group A3 with just one game left to play.

What defeat means for England’s WC qualification hopes

The result means that Spain go above England in qualifying group A3. They are both on 12 points from five games, but Spain’s head-to-head and goal difference is superior.

It means that if the Lionesses want automatic qualification, they must better Spain’s result against Iceland when they face Ukraine, with both games taking place on Tuesday.

If they don’t, the best they can settle for is a two-legged play-off to earn their ticket to Brazil next year.

The result is the biggest margin of defeat by an England side since the Euro 2009 final (6-2 vs Germany), and Wiegman has admitted that the manner of the result hurts both her and her players.

“Of course it hurts,” Wiegman said in her post-match press conference.

“I hoped for a totally different game. I expected a tight game, a very competitive game. But there was a difference tonight.

“We wanted to press high in moments, but they played straight over our press and even if we dropped a little bit, they would play.

“They got their first goal which was a deflection, we lost the ball where you don’t want to lose it. After that, we didn’t get any momentum.

“We were really struggling to keep the ball and find longer passes, or play it in behind. They played really well, and we didn’t play so well.

“We were really struggling to keep compact without the ball, even in our own half.

“What I’m trying to do now is think what caused this. What went really wrong, did we execute our game plan really well? I don’t think so. Caused by ourselves but also by Spain.

“I’m frustrated and very disappointed but so are the players. It hurts because we have lost a couple of times but never by more than one goal.”

Qualification chances slim but England must respond vs Ukraine

With their route to Brazil next year now out of their hands, Wiegman is not getting distracted by talk of automatic qualification or play-offs. Instead, she is focused on seeing a response from her team at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Tuesday night.

“If we qualify, there’s a different preparation than if we don’t. First of all, we’re really focusing on Tuesday. We want to get a good performance in that game, and win – that’s the most important thing.

“After that, we know what it’s about. Spain have to go to Iceland too, we’ve seen how hard that game is. Let’s see what happens on Tuesday. The first possibility is we qualify, depending on Spain, and the other is we are in a play-off.

“I want a reaction, that we’re a team, a strong team and play a strong team on Tuesday and stick together. That’s the most important thing.”

Stanway ‘very, very disappointed’ with England performance

England midfielder Georgia Stanway on Sky Sports News:

“The better team won. There’s not much we can say, we lacked quality and were a little bit late in all areas. We missed timings, we were late to the ball, their quality was stronger than ours.

“We’re disappointed, Spain beat us at home, we beat them at home. We’re level on points and there’s a lot to play for in this group. Our full focus is on Tuesday.

“We have to go through it, analyse it and pick it apart. Of course, it’s difficult being a midfielder, you’re in the mix all the time.

“It’ll be interesting to see how we can change our shape or alter those different elements to stop those goals.

“We knew coming here was going to be tough. They’ve got a really good home record, we said before the game they’re one of the best teams in the world and they stop you from playing your game, but take over possession too.

“We’re very, very disappointed with today but we want to thank the fans for coming over – and now full focus is on Tuesday.”

What’s next for the Lionesses?

Sarina Wiegman’s side will look to dust themselves off and pick up a win against Ukraine in their final 2027 World Cup qualifier at Wembley on Tuesday at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, kick-off 8pm.

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