England returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Ukraine in their final World Cup qualifier at the Hill Dickinson Stadium but will be forced to go through the play-offs to make next year’s finals.
Sarina Wiegman wanted a response from her side after they were thrashed 4-0 by Spain on Friday and the European champions bounced back with a professional performance in a game they were expected to win.
However, Spain’s win over Iceland ensured they topped Group A3 and England’s second-placed finish means they will have to go through the play-offs in order to reach Brazil in 2027.
Defender Jess Carter got the scoring under way inside a quarter of an hour before Georgia Stanway doubled their lead going into the break following a half completely dominated by the hosts in front of 26,065 fans in attendance at Everton’s stadium.
Ukraine produced a spirited display in the second period but Beth Mead’s 40th goal for her country finished the scoring and handed the visitors a sixth defeat from their six qualifying games.
The Lionesses seemed keen to dust off Friday’s disappointment and started ferociously with wave after wave of attack in the early stages, Lauren Hemp was the first to test Kateryna Boklach who will have anticipated a busy evening.
Ukraine were not given a chance to breathe by rampant England and they were saved by the woodwork when Lauren James’ speculative effort from the corner of the box bounced off the woodwork and into the grateful grasp of Boklach.
England got their deserved breakthrough in the 14th minute when James floated a beautiful delivery onto the head of Carter who nodded past a wrongfooted Boklach.
The first 30 minutes resembled an England attacking training session but they still only had one goal to their name as Alessia Russo headed into the keeper’s arms alongside missed chances from Maya Le Tissier and Hemp.
Hannah Hampton was a bystander for much of the half but did have something to deal with, albeit in easy fashion to stop Tanya Boychuk’s deflected effort from rolling in after Keira Walsh sloppily gave possession away.
The hosts doubled their advantage eight minutes before the break, Walsh unlocked the Ukraine defence with a pass into Russo, who was able to put it on a plate for Stanway who slid into an empty net.
Despite England’s dominance at the top end of the field, they were still unable to run away with the contest as the clock ticked into the final half hour, this time Russo let rip with an effort which forced a fourth save from Boklach.
A third goal finally arrived with a quarter of the game to go when Mead expertly dispatched a free-kick on the edge of the box beyond Boklach who was rooted to the spot.
