England made the first move in their Women's World Cup play-off, beating Greece 3-1 in Heraklion on Friday evening, but the scoreline flatters a performance that never quite found a second gear. Georgia Stanway, Maya le Tissier and Alessia Russo scored for Sarina Wiegman's side. Greece, ranked 55 places lower, pulled one back through Kallisti Brouksair and handed themselves a sliver of hope for the return leg in Leicester on Tuesday.
A slow first half and a goal just before the break
The first 45 minutes were not pretty. England had 78 per cent of the ball and did very little with it, passing round the edge of the Greek block without finding a way through. It was the home side who came closest, and by some distance. Ioanna Papatheodorou carried the ball past the England midfield, slipped between Leah Williamson and Esme Morgan and sent a shot against the crossbar, with Hannah Hampton well beaten.
That scare did England good. Stanway broke the deadlock just before half-time, tucking the finish away after Russo's assist. It was her fifth goal of this qualifying campaign, more than any other England player, and her 32nd under Wiegman, a tally she now shares with Beth Mead. Lauren James had earlier lobbed the Greek keeper from 30 yards, only for the flag to go up for offside.
Le Tissier makes the most of a move up the pitch
Lucy Bronze was missing through injury, so Le Tissier, Manchester United's captain, played at right-back. She spent a good part of the evening further forward than a defender normally goes, and on 63 minutes it paid off. Keira Walsh set her up, she struck it first time and, by her own admission, did not realise it had gone in. She thought the keeper had saved it.
"I'm a defender and I thought I'd just be stopping it," she told ITV afterwards, laughing about her first England goal. BBC Sport's player rater made her the best player on the pitch, with a 7.56 average. Russo made it three four minutes later, converting Mead's pass, and for a while it looked as though England might run up a big score.
The lapse that kept Greece in it
They did not, and Wiegman was open about why. In the 77th minute England's shape came apart, Papatheodorou found Brouksair and the Greek forward finished. "I'm not happy with the goal we conceded," the England manager said. She also pointed out that the ball was not moving quickly enough and that England were sometimes caught offside when they could have scored more.
There were chances to put the tie to bed. Jess Park hit the underside of the bar in injury time, and Mead somehow turned a six-yard cross wide, although the offside flag was up anyway. Liverpool defender Grace Fisk won her first senior cap at 28 when she came on for Morgan late in the game. Elsewhere on the night, Sweden won 5-0 in Lithuania, a result that tells you how far England's two-goal lead is from comfortable.
What comes next for the Lionesses
The second leg is at the King Power Stadium in Leicester on Tuesday, kick-off 19:30 BST. Win the tie and England will meet either Ukraine or Slovakia in the next round, with the winners of that going to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. Ukraine also won their first leg 3-1 away. England finished second to Spain in their qualifying group on a head-to-head, which is how the back-to-back European champions ended up in the play-offs at all.
Stanway summed it up well. "This is only half the job done," she said. The attack looked sharp enough to finish it. The defence, which gave Greece two clear openings on the night, needs to tighten up before Tuesday.
Match facts: Greece 1-3 England (half-time 0-1), Women's World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final first leg, Pankritio Stadium, Heraklion, Friday 9 October 2026, attendance 3,942. Goals: Stanway 39' (assist Russo), Le Tissier 63' (assist Walsh), Russo 67' (assist Mead), Brouksair 77' (Greece, assist Papatheodorou). Second leg: King Power Stadium, Leicester, Tuesday 13 October, 19:30 BST.
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