‘We need to keep that significance’ – England must keep momentum going says Wiegman

‘We need to keep that significance’ – England must keep momentum going says Wiegman

England head coach Sarina Wiegman says that her side need to keep momentum going as they look to secure automatic qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027.

The Lionesses defeated Spain 1-0 at Wembley last night. Lauren Hemp netted the game’s only goal after just three minutes.

When speaking to the media after the match, Wiegman was very happy with the result but highlighted the need for continued momentum with three qualifiers remaining.

“It was a very good result,” Wiegman said. “We’re really happy, but we need to keep that significance by getting a result [against Iceland] and of course, then we have Ukraine and Spain again, so that’s really important now.

“Of course, we really had to win [this game] in our stadium with all of the celebrations we had. Tomorrow, we really need to have our mindset, get prepared for Iceland because that’s going to be some challenge again.”

Wiegman went on to speak about the challenges of playing a team like Spain and the power that they possess.

She said “We really would love to have the ball a little bit longer in moments and we wanted to press a bit higher too, but that was hard. When it’s so hard, you just have to fight, stick together and communicate really well because you all know that the super-strength of Spain is being in possession, being really dynamic and challenging all of the time with all of the rotations. I thought we did that well. I think we made them uncomfortable and once we got out, we tried to get in-behind them and we got some chances. I also know that they had some good chances to0.”

It was a very special occasion for midfielder Keira Walsh who not only captained the side, but also earned her 100th senior cap for the Lionesses. Wiegman offered her thoughts on the player’s milestone game.

She said “For her today, it was a hard game, it’s the highest-level game that you can expect. It was good timing for it too; that you play the 100th game at Wembley, against Spain and you beat them 1-0.

“Tonight shows her whole development and what she brings to our team. It’s not just the football team, but also keeping the team together, she’s really good.”

England continue their FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 qualifying campaign on Saturday when they travel to Reykjavík to face Iceland.