England just needed to avoid defeat against Spain. Instead, they suffered their heaviest loss in 17 years – a 4-0 drubbing in Majorca that leaves their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread.
A win or a draw would have sealed the Lionesses’ place at the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil. But after being torn apart by the world champions, England will likely have to navigate two rounds of play-offs this autumn.
“England lose 4-0 to Spain, their heaviest defeat in 17 years, leaving World Cup qualification in doubt.”
“It hurts,” said manager Sarina Wiegman, who admitted the scoreline was a shock. “I expected a totally different game. I expected a very tight game, a very competitive game, but it was different tonight, so that’s of course really disappointing and that hurts.”
The defeat – England’s heaviest since 2009 – was the first time her side had been beaten by such a margin under her leadership. At Son Moix Stadium, Wiegman’s players were outclassed from the moment the first goal went in, a heavily deflected effort that undid a promising start.
“The deflection was unlucky, but after that we didn’t get momentum any more,” Wiegman said. “We were really struggling to keep the ball and find the passes further away or in behind. They played really well and we didn’t play so well.”
Spain’s four goals exposed gaps in England’s structure that the hosts exploited ruthlessly. “Out of possession, we were really struggling to stay compact, especially in our own half … our connections weren’t so good and they found the space we left straight away,” Wiegman added.
Former England midfielder Fran Kirby watched from afar and said the players looked “deflated” at full-time. “I hurt just watching it,” Kirby told BBC Radio 5 Live. “They will learn from it, and they have to rise up to put in a good performance against Ukraine.”
England now return home to face Ukraine in their final qualifying match on Tuesday (20:00 BST). Victory will matter only if Spain drop points in Iceland at the same time. Should Spain beat Iceland and England also win, the teams would be level on points, but Spain would secure automatic qualification on a better head-to-head record.
“Of course, it’s not a great scoreline,” Wiegman said. “It’s hard, it’s disappointing, and I think there was a difference – a big difference – between ourselves and Spain. We review this, recover, stick together, play a good game and then move forward.”
The manager refused to blame the qualification system, which could see England win every group game bar one – against the world champions – and still face play-offs. “It feels like the European competition is really competitive, and that has been the case since the Nations League was set up,” she said.
With a year to go until the World Cup, Wiegman has much to ponder. “First of all, what I’m trying to do now is think ‘what caused this?’” she said. “We have to see what went really wrong.”
For now, all England can do is beat Ukraine and hope Spain stumble in Iceland. The next step, Wiegman said, is to focus on Tuesday before thinking about a likely playoff. “Spain has to go to Iceland, too and we have seen how hard that team is,” she added.