Wiegman warns England cannot slip up in Iceland after gaining edge over Spain

Sarina Wiegman has said it is important England get the right result against Iceland in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier to make the win against Spain at Wembley on Tuesday “even more valuable”.

England put themselves in pole position in their qualifying group with the tight 1-0 victory over Spain, with Lauren Hemp’s early goal the difference. The European champions have three wins from three and with only the top team from each group in League A securing automatic qualification and avoiding the playoffs, the incentive to keep winning is high.

Iceland are next up and a positive result at the Laugardalsvöllur Stadium with two games remaining in early June – Spain in Mallorca and Ukraine at the Hill Dickinson Stadium – is “what we want”, according to Wiegman. She said: “It will be a different challenge but we need to make the win on Tuesday even more valuable by having a good result tomorrow. That’s absolutely what we want to go for, it’s different circumstances and with a different opponent, but we’re ready.”

Iceland are undeniably England’s easiest opponent in this international window. However, teams of a similar level have posed challenges to them in the Nations League in recent years, which the World Cup qualifying format mirrors. The Lionesses lost to Belgium in 2023 and 2025 and a draw with Portugal in 2025 also proved costly.

Wiegman concurred there are “always learnings” to take from these types of games, saying: “Of course in those Nations League campaigns we were really disappointed that we didn’t get the wins. We thought we could have done better and we could have got them across the line. So yes, we are absolutely aware this is again a new game, a new situation with Iceland in front of us here in Reykjavik, and we’re going to get ready in the best possible way and are going for a very good performance and a win.”

Keira Barry is the only absence for Wiegman, with the 20-year-old forward having to leave the squad as she has “had some ankle problems and she didn’t get ready in time to be available for tomorrow.” The manager also confirmed that Leah Williamson, who has not played since mid-March due to a thigh injury, is fit. “She will train and the final decisions we always make after the session,” Wiegman said.