England's Finishing Woes Linger Before Greece Second Leg — SkimNews
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- England beat Greece 3-1 in the first leg of their Women's World Cup qualifying play-off in Crete on Friday, but scored only three goals from 26 shots with 74% possession and conceded in the second half, leaving the door open for the second leg in Leicester (19:30 BST Tuesday).
- Sarina Wiegman demanded more ruthlessness ahead of the second leg, while midfielder Keira Walsh identified the problem as 'the final pass, final cross and final shot' rather than a failure to reach the final third, where England registered 58 touches in the opposition box and 210 passes.
- Georgia Stanway has emerged as England's top scorer since Euro 2025 with 10 goals, ranking inside the top three for European international goalscorers with a minutes-per-goal ratio of 81.
- Injuries to strikers Aggie Beever-Jones and Michelle Agyemang have left Alessia Russo with little competition at number nine, while Lauren Hemp has scored just twice in 687 minutes and Lauren James has not scored in her past 425 minutes.
- The lack of ruthlessness has been a recurring theme since the 2023 World Cup, where England beat Haiti and Denmark both 1-0, eliminated Nigeria on penalties, and came from behind to beat Colombia 2-1 in the quarter-finals before finishing runners-up to Spain.
- Despite 11 different goalscorers since Euro 2025, England have not won any match in which they have trailed since that tournament, losing to Brazil and Spain on those occasions.
Why it matters: England need a second-leg result in Leicester to advance toward the 2027 Women's World Cup, but the source shows a finishing problem that has lingered since the 2023 World Cup: Wiegman's side have not won a game in which they trailed since Euro 2025, losing to Brazil and Spain, and key strikers Beever-Jones and Agyemang are injured, leaving Russo short on competition up front.
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