England Women vs Greece Women; Women's World Cup Qualifying Play-off Round 1
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England Women vs Greece Women. Women's World Cup Qualifying Play-off Round 1.
The King Power Stadium.
England Women 5
- A Russo (3rd minute, 75th minute)
- L James (16th minute, 34th minute)
- G Stanway (30th minute)
Greece Women 0
8-1
England 5-0 Greece (8-1 on aggregate): Alessia Russo, Lauren James star as Lionesses cruise into World Cup play-offs second round
Match report as England beat Greece 8-1 on aggregate in their World Cup play-off first-round tie; the Lionesses were 5-0 winners at King Power Stadium; Alessia Russo and Lauren James both scored twice with Georgia Stanway adding the other; England to face Ukraine in second round
Tuesday 13 October 2026 22:08, UK
Alessia Russo and Lauren James reiterated their importance to England as both scored twice in a 5-0 win against Greece in the second leg of their World Cup play-off first-round tie, winning 8-1 on aggregate.
In fact, it was the Chelsea forward who supplied the Arsenal No 9 for an early opener - needed after a laborious 3-1 in Crete on Friday gave the Lionesses plenty to consider.
But once England had taken the lead at the King Power Stadium they did not look back. James doubled the hosts' lead with a rocket effort before Georgia Stanway's bullet header made it three after Lauren Hemp's cross.
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James scored her second of the evening four minutes later - assisted again by Hemp - but was rested for the second half, replaced by Beth Mead.
The Manchester City winger spurned two glorious early chances - as did her club team-mate Hemp - while Stanway thought she had scored her own brace five minutes after the break.
A martial arts-esque leap saw her control the ball before finishing brilliantly on the volley, but her shoulder was just offside and VAR ruled out the goal.
England continued to create chances as Sarina Wiegman tinkered with her team - handing a debut to Freya Godfrey after Lexi Potter also earned her first cap with a start - before Russo spun her defender and finished on a tight angle to round off a dominant Lionesses performance.
England go into the second round of the World Cup play-offs, where they will face Ukraine over two legs in November and December.
The key moments from Leicester
3: GOAL! James drives through midfield before playing Russo through. The Arsenal striker scores after beating the goalkeeper one-on-one.
16: GOAL! James' rocket effort powers into the top corner.
29: BLUSHES SPARED! Maya Le Tissier fluffs her lines with the goal gaping, but is saved by an offside flag - although replays showed she was onside.
30: GOAL! Stanway is unmarked inside the area to nod home Hemp's cross with a pinpoint effort.
34: GOAL! James scores her second of the evening with a fine volley from close range.
50: NO GOAL! Stanway controls the ball with a high foot before volleying home - but VAR rules it out for offside.
75: GOAL! England finally score a fifth and final goal as Russo slots home on a tight angle.
Wiegman on using a back three: We're trying to improve our game
England head coach Sarina Wiegman to ITV Sport:
"I saw a lot of good things. We wanted to do the things that we're trying to do better than Friday and we've shown a lot better. There's always improvements but we scored some great goals.
"They pressed high in the beginning, which they did Friday too and it's very courageous. But we got the first goal very quickly and that's very helpful. We got some more big chances and you want to be ruthless all the time, but 5-0 is a pretty good score."
On playing with a back three and building up: "What we're trying to do is improve our game. We've played the system we did like for a long time and we tried to improve that, but now after the summer we thought, 'okay, how can we adapt or evolve our style of play to become better?'
"The football world is going so fast and we want to keep developing and taking our game to the next level. I also think that we have players to do this."
On facing Ukraine in the next round: "We have seen them now, so we just see what do they do. How can we take out their strengths and show their weaknesses? And we want to improve our style of play again too.
"We expect again that we'll be on the ball a lot, so we'll be in the final third a lot and we can continue what we tried today. You want to improve in defending too, but I do expect from the team and the quality we have compared to Ukraine that we'll be in the final third a lot."
Russo: 'We were ruthless early on'
England striker Alessia Russo speaking with ITV Sport:
"We were happy with the first game with getting the win but there were some things we wanted to work on which we saw tonight. We were ruthless early on.
"I'm set up with great people around me and they make it easy for me. It's nice to get on the scoresheet as always and nice to get two wins under our belt."
On Lauren James' performance: "I think LJ can play anywhere on the pitch in the attacking third. She's brilliant. She's so technical and finds passes in the tough spaces. You can see how ruthless she is in front of goal. I am really lucky to play with her."
On Lexi Potter: "She's been brilliant in training. You can tell that she's ready for this level. She is a great kid and wants to learn. She's got the best in learning off Keira. She looks so confident and composed.
On playing Ukraine next round: "It was tough against them also. It took us time to break them down. We're happy with tonight. We go back to club football and then focus on Ukraine."
