England found a different way to beat Spain - but one quality still shone through

England's 1-0 victory against Spain made it three wins from three in World Cup qualifying (AP)

Spain will be sick of the sight of England. The Lionesses famously won Euro 2025 after only leading during the knockout stages of the tournament for four minutes and 52 minutes, including against Spain in the final where Hannah Hampton saved two penalties and Chloe Kelly stuck in the shoot-out to retain England’s crown. After surviving, it felt like the Lionesses kept standing for long enough to just pinch the trophy at the last.

So when Lauren Hemp swivelled in the box to fire the Lionesses ahead inside three minutes of their World Cup qualifier at Wembley, Sarina Wiegman’s side were faced with the complete opposite of what they managed to overcome in Switzerland last summer. Rather than chasing the game and requiring a comeback to get over the line, they would have to be more controlled and embrace facing elite opposition from ahead, while defending their lead for almost the entire match.

Turns out, the European champions got the same result in their rematch with the world champions, a crucial victory that leaves them in control of their qualifying group with three wins from three. Once again, when they needed her, Hampton stood up with another big moment against Spain as she denied Edna Imade’s late header. “A crucial save,” Wiegman said. The new centre-back pairing of Lotte Wubben-Moy and Esme Morgan, with captain Leah Williamson injured and Jess Carter on the bench, were outstanding too. “They were ready,” Wiegman noted. “They haven’t played that much together but they showed up today. They should be proud of themselves and I am too.”

Lotte Wubben-Moy stood up for England and put in an impressive performance at centre-back with Leah Williamson sidelined (Getty)

Spain were missing the ingenuity of the brilliant Aitana Bonmati, who has been absent since December with a broken leg. They tended to move sideways, but the world champions still possessed the technical quality and attacking talent to hurt an opposition like England from all angles. “Against Spain you need to defend as a team really well,” Wiegman said. “When it’s hard you have to fight and communicate and stick together - we did that. As a team we’ve really fought today.” The resilience of Euro 2025 from “proper England” was on display again.

But there was more to England’s performance than that. Wiegman had a plan to match Spain player-for-player when Cata Coll had the ball from goal-kicks. They signalled an intention to press Spain in their half but then drop deep once their opponents crossed the halfway line. It was a counter-attacking approach that meant England invited pressure and placed a lot of responsibility on Wubben-Moy and Morgan but it also allowed the Lionesses to enjoy one of their lesser-seen strengths and set up to hit Spain quickly on the break.

It made Spain “uncomfortable” in the moments Wiegman’s side got out, the manager said. In the in-form Alessia Russo, England have not just a threat leading the line but a forward whose all-round game has significantly improved and can play with her back to goal. They have pure speed and directness in Hemp and a flowing, confident dribbler in Lauren James who is able to carry for great distances on her own. Add in Lucy Bronze’s drive from right back and Hampton’s ability to chip diagonal passes out to the touchline and England had many options themselves in which they could suddenly play out from.

England had enough chances to avoid the nerves that would come and put Spain away they were unable to create a more convincing scoreline. Hemp hit the post in the first-half after a clever flick from Bronze, before Russo and James had chances to add a second on the counter-attack. The best opportunity of all fell to Lucia Kendall, the 21-year-old who was playing in her biggest game yet for England, but she fired over to leave Wiegman almost tearing her hair out on the touchline.

Wiegman praised the performances of Morgan and Wubben-Moy and hailed the ‘fight’ of her England team (Reuters)

Wiegman knew how important a second goal could be. There was always the danger that England would drop too deep, too soon after taking the lead so early in the game and they had to survive a difficult period at the start of the second half where Olga Carmona’s shot deflected off Bronze onto the bar and Vicky Lopez curled against the post.

Carmona had struck against England before, in the World Cup final in Sydney, but this time the fine margins were on England’s side. The full-back’s shot bounced down but stayed out but only by a few inches and goal-line technology was required, not for the first time, just to be sure it hadn’t crossed. Hampton was then needed to make stops but, with Mary Earps watching on from Wembley after being warmly greeted onto the pitch for her retirement celebration, the goalkeeper was able to deny Spain just as she did in Basel during the Euro 2025 final. The best came in the 90th minute from a corner as she sprung to her right to keep out Imade’s header from six yards.

Hannah Hampton made a crucial late save from Spain's Edna Imade (PA)

Wiegman had more tools at her disposal. In James, England could call up on her mercurial forward who was cruelly forced off, unfit, during the Euros final. James had been key to England’s previous win over Spain across 90 minutes in the Nations League last February, and she was deployed in the same position on the left wing that allowed her to control and decide England’s tempo. With such fluid and carefree movement on the ball, James toyed with Spain at times and led them on a merry dance. Behind her, Keira Walsh, captain on the night she won her 100th cap, and Georgia Stanway worked well with Kendall in hurrying Spain and bringing bite on the edge of their box.

By the end, Hemp’s goal felt like a distant memory. It came from a corner, a set-piece ultimately making the difference. Hemp was sharp in the box with an acrobatic finish after Russo’s flick from the ground kept the ball alive. The presence of goal-line technology ensured referee Tess Olofsson did not have a difficult decision to make while Spain’s protests fell on deaf ears when Alexia Putellas was unable to clear from the line. There was a scare, much later, when Alex Greenwood left Lopez open at the back post before Hampton was booked for time-wasting in stoppage time. As they did at Euros, England got it done.