On Route to World Cup Qualification: the Lionesses Look to Overcome Greece at Halfway Point
The Lionesses travelled to face Greece for the first leg of their 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifiers, making this the first time each team have faced each-other. The two-legged tie kicked off in Heraklion, Crete on Friday.
Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses secured a 3-1 victory in the first leg, with clinical goals from Georgia Stanway, Maya Le Tissier and Alessia Russo. Both Liverpool Captain, Grace Fisk and North Carolina Courage’s Erica Meg Parkinson came on to make their debuts, inching closer to their dreams of World Cup football. However, Captain Kallisti Brouksair capitalised on a defensive error and pulled one back for Greece late on. The hosts executed a tactical game plan and prevented England from finding pockets of space early on: the Lionesses had to adapt and fight for the win.
On Tuesday, England return to the King Power Stadium, Leicester, where they look to dominate against a composed and organised Greek side who are still fighting. If the Lionesses succeed, they will reach the play-off final in the final step of their journey to World Cup qualification.
How did both teams end up here?
England failed to automatically qualify for next year’s World Cup following a second place finish in group A3 of the UEFA Women’s Nations League. The Lionesses lost out on top spot after a disappointing 4-0 defeat to World Champions, Spain in Mallorca. They missed out due to the head-to-head goals scored criteria as a result of both teams finishing on 15 points.
Greece on the other hand won their group in League C which earned them promotion to League B of the Nations League. Greece won all of their games, including a statement 3-0 win over Georgia, resulting in them finishing 1st with 12 points. Due to winning their group, they entered Play-off Round 1, Path 1 which paired them with England.
The winner over two legs will progress to round two of the qualifiers where they face the winner of Slovakia V Ukraine and hope to book their place on the plane to Brazil.
England Overview
During their qualifying campaign, the Lionesses registered five wins from six, with their only loss to Spain. There have been a few notable changes to the squad this time around. Following performance levels below what Wiegman had expected, Kelly and Toone were left out of the squad. After recovering from injury, captain Leah Williamson has returned to the squad, as well as a first senior call up for Chelsea youngster – Lexi Potter – a new face in the squad for the future.
However, due to minor injuries picked up at club level, both Lucy Bronze and Lucia Kendall have left the Lionesses camp to be replaced by Toone and Grace Clinton.
Erica Meg Parkinson is England’s youngest ever debutant at the age of 18, as she made way for Lauren James against Greece in the second half. A bright young talent looking to prove herself to Wiegman with a strong understanding for the game. Liverpool’s centre-back Fisk also earned her first England cap, having waited patiently for several years in the England setup.
Greece Overview
Greece entered the play-offs with a perfect form in the group stage, with four wins from four and 11 goals scored in group C4.
Ranked 59th in the Fifa Women’s World Rankings, Greece have never previously qualified for a Women’s World Cup so hope to make the most of this year’s qualifiers, a statement game against UEFA Women’s EUROs winners England will be a chance to put their nation’s football on display for all to see.
Key Players
For England, Alessia Russo will be a key player, especially with Kelly and Beever-Jones all omitted from the squad. Russo could be the Lionesses’ main attacking outlet, and England will want to utilise her clinical goalscoring just as much as her excellent hold up play. With 30 goals in just 67 caps for her country, she will prove to be a dangerous threat to the Greece defence.
Another player to watch in this game for England is midfielder Lexi Potter. At 20 years old, she’s earned her first senior call up to the Lionesses after impressing Wiegman with Chelsea this season. Wiegman specifically highlighted her strong performance in Chelsea’s win over Arsenal, showing that Potter can start against top-level teams and isn’t afraid to rise to the challenge. The box-to-box midfielder has been playing alongside fellow England international Keira Walsh for Chelsea, allowing her to learn from one of the Lionesses’ most valued players.
For Greece, Birmingham City midfielder Veatriki Sarri will be a key player in this fixture. So far in the 2027 qualifying campaign (which includes the Nations League fixtures), Sarri has registered one goal and one assist in three appearances. Despite only scoring one goal in those games, she had 11 attempts across her three appearances, showing that she will be a threat to Hannah Hampton’s England goal, despite playing in midfield.
Another Greek attacking threat is Kallisti Brouksair who currently plays as a forward for Scottish club, Rangers. The 24-year-old forward has scored two goals in four appearances during Greece’s 2027 qualifying campaign, making her an attacking threat that England need to be aware of. With a clinical steal of the ball and finish at home, she looks to hurt England once again in Leicester next week.
What could decide the game?
Although Greece have had a perfect qualifying campaign so far, all of their wins have come against Georgia and the Faroe Islands. Therefore, facing England could prove to halter their attacking flow, especially given the gap between Greece and England in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings.
However, it’s likely that England will control possession and have more of the ball, so Greece could prove to be dangerous on the counterattack if they take their chances well.
The question now is whether England’s experience will prove decisive and allow them to get the job done, or if Greece’s impressive qualifying record will prevail.