England hold 3-1 lead as home nations chase World Cup — SkimNews
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- England lead Greece 3-1 after the first leg, with goals from Georgia Stanway, Maya le Tissier and Alessia Russo, and would face the winners of Slovakia v Ukraine in round two if they progress (away leg first).
- Sarina Wiegman initially left Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly out of her squad, saying they 'have not been playing to their full potential,' though Toone rejoined when Lucy Bronze dropped out with a slight injury.
- Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland all play second legs on Tuesday: Scotland lead the Czech Republic 2-0, Wales lead Albania 1-0, the Republic of Ireland lead Kazakhstan 8-0, while Northern Ireland trail Portugal 0-4.
- Northern Ireland head coach Michael McArdle described overturning a 4-0 deficit away to Portugal as an "impossible" task ahead of Tuesday's second leg.
- Wales have never beaten a team ranked inside the world's top 20 in a competitive fixture and would likely need to break that streak to qualify, though they thrashed Albania 4-0 in the qualifying group.
- Spain, the world champions, finished top of England's qualifying group and took the one automatic spot despite England winning five of their six matches.
Why it matters: World champions Spain already claimed the automatic qualifying berth from England's group, forcing the Lionesses into a two-round play-off path. With round-two fixtures scheduled for 26 November to 5 December 2026, Tuesday's results effectively decide which stay alive - and Northern Ireland's 4-0 deficit means at least one home nation is already likely eliminated before round two begins.
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