England urged to be more ruthless after 3-1 win in Crete ahead of Greece return
England take a two-goal lead into the second leg of their Women's World Cup qualifying play-off against Greece after a 3-1 victory in Crete on Friday, and manager Sarina Wiegman has demanded more ruthlessness ahead of Tuesday's return fixture in Leicester (19:30 BST).
The Lionesses dominated possession in the first leg, recording 74% of the ball and 26 shots, but conceded in the second half and saw Greece hit the bar; England also registered 58 touches in the opposition box and completed 210 passes in the final third. The issue of finishing has been a recurring theme since 2023, when England finished runners-up to Spain in the World Cup after narrow wins over Haiti and Denmark, a penalty shootout victory over Nigeria and a 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia.
Midfielder Keira Walsh said the problem is not a lack of arriving in the final third and singled out the final actions as the area to fix: "We played differently back then [in 2023]. There's a lot more pressure when you're at the World Cup," she added. "In these [qualifying] games, the worrying thing would be if we were not arriving in the final third. That would be a bigger problem. "It's the final pass, final cross and final shot. That was what was missing [on Friday]. I see the girls do that in training every day. They are fantastic at it. "It's just putting that in the game tomorrow and hopefully we will." Walsh described their hesitancy in front of goal as "frustrating" and said there is work to do for the second leg.
Arsenal midfielder Georgia Stanway leads England's scoring since Euro 2025 with 10 goals and is noted in the report as ranking inside the top three for most goals scored by European players in internationals, with a minutes-per-goal ratio of 81. Alessia Russo was named England player of the year and is identified as England's second-highest goalscorer since Euro 2025.
Wiegman outlined the technical details she wants corrected after the Crete game: "We got in good positions but then it's staying onside, having the final pass, the right pass at the right moment, the run at the right time and deciding what cross, what cutback and whether to go for the far post," added the Dutchwoman. The manager also referenced the importance of connections between players and neutralising the counter-attack threat.
Selection and positional matters were raised as part of the context for England's attacking output: Chelsea's Lauren James has moved between winger, number 10 and centre-forward roles, while injuries to strikers Aggie Beever-Jones and Michelle Agyemang have reduced competition for Alessia Russo in the number nine position. Regular starter Lauren Hemp, who has played 687 minutes, has scored just twice, while James has not found the net in her past 425 minutes.
Goals have been spread across the squad, with 11 different scorers since Euro 2025; defenders Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter and Maya le Tissier have all scored in the past 18 months, and England's number nine has added six to that tally. The side have not won any matches in which they have trailed since the end of Euro 2025, suffering defeats to Brazil and Spain on those occasions.
England's second leg against Greece is scheduled for Tuesday in Leicester, kick-off 19:30 BST, with Wiegman insisting her players must convert their chances more efficiently to secure qualification over the two legs.
