England have established a strong position in their Women’s World Cup playoff tie after defeating Greece 3-1 in the first leg on Crete. The Lionesses now head into Tuesday’s second leg in Leicester with a significant advantage, knowing a victory would send them to face either Slovakia or Ukraine in the next round of the qualifying path toward Brazil 2027.
Georgia Stanway opened the scoring in the 39th minute, finishing a well-worked team move that involved Laura Blindkilde Brown and Alessia Russo. The home side, ranked 58th globally, were not entirely out of the contest early on, with Lauren James seeing a spectacular long-range chipped effort ruled out for offside in the 20th minute. Greece nearly equalized before halftime when Ioanna Papatheodorou struck the crossbar from 35 yards.
England doubled their lead shortly after the restart. In the 63rd minute, Maya Le Tissier powered home a shot from an acute angle after previously seeing two efforts saved by the Greek goalkeeper. Four minutes later, Russo extended the lead to 3-0, slotting the ball into the bottom corner following a precise pass from Beth Mead.
Greece pulled a goal back in the 78th minute through Calliste Brookshire, who displayed skillful footwork in the box before firing into the far corner. Despite the late consolation, England maintained control, with Jess Park hitting the underside of the crossbar in stoppage time, suggesting the squad still has plenty in reserve for the return fixture.
The result marks a crucial step for Sarina Wiegman’s side, who were forced into the playoff route after finishing behind Spain in their qualifying group. They will now look to close out the tie on home soil on Tuesday.
Greece hitting the bar was scary for a moment. Did the ref check for handball there?
What a dominant display! That away win puts massive pressure on Greece now.