European champion England made it two wins from two in its World Cup 2027 qualifying campaign with a 2-0 win over Iceland at the City Ground in Nottingham on Saturday.
After thrashing Ukraine 6-1 earlier in the week, England tops group A3 ahead of world champion Spain, which was made to work hard by the Ukrainians for its 3-1 win in Antalya, Turkey.
Lucy Bronze, earning her 145th cap, powered England ahead midway through the first half after a cross from Lauren James on the left.
Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton needed to make a superb save to deny Sandra Maria Jessen, whose header was angling into the top corner, before Georgia Stanway sealed the win in the 78th minute.
“An important win. I think we played well, we know they’re very disciplined, very powerful and really dangerous on the counter,” England coach Sarina Wiegman told ITV.
“For the most part, we took that out so they didn’t become dangerous. They had that one chance where Hannah Hampton did really well. Overall, we showed some good football. Of course, we want to score more goals, but it starts with winning the game,” he added.
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England heads the group on goal difference ahead of Spain, which was made to wait until the 44th minute before Bayern Munich striker Edna Imadel put it ahead against Ukraine.
In the third minute of added time in the first half it added a second through London City Lionesses’ Lucia Corrales.
Barcelona forward Vicky Lopez added a third from the penalty spot in the second half before Olha Ovdiychuk rescued a late consolation for the Ukrainians, who are playing in Turkey because they have not been able to host games in Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022.
England and Spain meet in a repeat of the Euro 2025 final and the 2023 World Cup final next month.
Bosnia scores 13
Germany tops Group A4 after a 4-0 win in Norway, while Slovenia kept its hopes alive with a 1-0 victory at home against Austria, which has now lost its opening two matches.
France made it two wins from two in Group A2 as Sakina Karchaoui scored twice in a 4-1 victory over Poland.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani also netted for Les Bleues, as Poland paid for Nadia Krezyman’s red card shortly before half-time when only 2-1 down.
France sits two points clear of the Netherlands which edged out Ireland 2-1.
Sweden was held to a 0-0 draw by Serbia in Group A1 and sits second in the standings, behind Denmark on goal difference, after its fellow Scandinavians’ 1-1 draw with Italy.
In Group C1, meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina hammered Liechtenstein 13-1 in Zenica.
In spite of the scoreline, it was still a long way short of the women’s international record of 21-0, which has occurred five times, most recently when Haiti saw off British Virgin Islands in 2022.
Only the winners of each of the four European ‘League A’ groups will qualify automatically for the World Cup.
The other 12 teams go into the playoffs, which will also involve the four League B group winners, the six group winners and the two best runners-up from League C.
Published on Mar 08, 2026
