Match report: England 5-0 Greece (agg: 8-1)

A mercurial Lauren James scored two and provided an assist in a thrilling four-goal first 45 minutes against Greece, as England put themselves two games away from securing their place at the World Cup.

James’s double was matched by Alessia Russo, who scored either side of the break, and her Arsenal teammate Georgia Stanway was also on the scoresheet, with the Lionesses setting up a round two playoff phase double header against Ukraine in November and December. It was a clinical and slick statement from England, albeit against a team they should bypass with ease.

Any Greek hopes of arriving in Leicester and launching a Trojan horse-style smash and grab, after a hugely impressive performance in their 3-1 defeat to an unconvincing Lionesses team in Crete, were quickly dashed.

90 min Three minutes of added time.

88 min The match – and tie – are petering out. The dates for England’s decisive playoff against Ukraine haven’t been confirmed – I think the first leg is in November with the second in December.

86 min Walsh miscontrols the ball, then fouls Drakogiannaki and is booked.

85 min “We want six!” chant the home crowd. I’d say there’s a fair chance they will get what they want.

81 min Godfrey is put through on goal in the inside-left channel. She shapes a shot towards the far corner but it’s slightly telegraphed and Katergiannaki makes a fine diving save.

81 min: Greece substitution Eleni Saich limps off to be replaced by Panagiota Argyriou. That was a bad tackle from Stanway, even it it was (almost certainly) accidental.

79 min It’s not news, but Alessia Russo is so good. Both her goals tonight have been scored with the relaxed certainty of the superior footballer.

77 min A really poor tackle from Stanway, who catches Saich on the achilles with her studs. I assume it was accidental but she could have been sent off for that. She certainly should have been booked.

72 min: England substitution Liverpool’s Grace Fisk wins her second cap, replacing Leah Williamson in defence.

70 min: Greece substitution Georgia Chalatsogianni replaces Veatriki Sarri.

69 min Mead tees up Stanway, whose shot is blocked, and Walsh blooters the rebound into orbit. England are almost trying too hard to score a fifth goal.

66 min Greenwood fires a training-ground corner into Park on the edge of the area. Her shot is blocked and Stanway – on a hat-trick – leathers the loose ball just wide.

63 min I forgot to say that Freya Godfrey is making her England debut. We take this stuff for granted, but imagine making your debut your country.

61 min Scotland now lead Czechia 3-2 on the night, 5-2 on aggregate. They are heading for a playoff decider with Sweden, who sneaked past Lithuania 15-0 on aggregate.

59 min: Triple substitution for England Freya Godfrey, Jess Park and Niamh Charles replace Lexi Potter, Maya Le Tissier and the magnificent Lauren Hemp.

57 min Stanway’s cross-shot is kicked away by Katergiannaki, who then hoofs an attmpted clearance against the onrushing Walsh (I think). The ball ricochets behind for a goalkick.

53 min Mead, on the left, drives a flat cross that is headed up and over the bar by Hemp. A nice effort from Hemp, which took the keeper out of the game, but she got a bit too much on it.

49 min Mead misses a good chance, heading a cross from the right well wide of the far post. No matter, because…

47 min A long-range shot from Russo bounces awkwardly and is well held by Katergiannaki.

46 min Greece also made a triple substitution at the break: Marianna Rapani, Stamatia Ntarzanou and Eleftheria Drakogiannaki are on for Brame, Paterna and Moraitou.

46 min No hat-trick for Lauren James: she’s been replaced at half-time by Beth Mead.

Half-time verdict

That was a notable improvement from Sarina Wiegman’s team compared to Friday’s display. Nobody should get too carried away, because of the level of opposition, but there is a bit more zip, confidence and panache about the European champions’ play tonight, and Wiegman looks satisfied as she walks down the tunnel. The Potter-Walsh midfield base is working nicely and it is interesting seeing Georgia Stanway higher up the pitch.

I am at the King Power and it is quite clear the tie is done and dusted, meaning the main source of excitement in the stadium at the moment is that they are advertising pints of lager for £6.90, and then charging £7.20 for it when you purchase it.

Half-time reading

45+3 min Yep, the on-field decision has been upheld by VAR.

45+2 min: Potter has a goal disallowed A debut goal from Lexi Potter is ruled out for a foul by Stanway earlier in the move. The referee allowed play to continue so that VAR could check the potential foul, but I can’t see this being overturned.

After only 22 minutes, the home crowd broke out their first Mexican wave. Now, after just 39 minutes, they’re waving their phone lights in the air. It’s 4-0... As Russell Crowe might ask, are they not entertained?

42 min Stanway’s shot on the run is kept out at the near post by Katergiannaki. Good save. But England look like scoring almost every time they go forward.

38 min A corner from James bounces around the area. Greece fail to clear and Williamson sweeps a snapshot straight at Katergiannaki. File under: ‘She hit it too well’. But don’t bother with the acronym.

37 min Another excellent cross from Hemp, who has been sensational on the left, is taken off Stanway’s toes by Paterna.

Lauren James is really enjoying her free role this evening, gliding around the pitch, finding acres of space. When she’s in this kind of confident form, not many teams can stop her, and this Greece team can’t. The fans are getting excited here, every time the Chelsea forward touches the ball.

33 min Russo is on her feet and looks okay to continue.

31 min There’s a break in play after Russo is whacked on the back of the head by a clearance from Katergiannaki. She’ll need to be tested for concussion before play can resume.

28 min James’ deflected cross is somehow launched over the bar by Le Tissier, two yards out. She was flagged offside after the event, but replays showed she was onside so it would have counted. That’s a remarkable miss.

27 min Katergiannaki dives full length to palm Hemp’s cross away from Le Tissier, who was waiting to score her second goal in as many games.

25 min England beat Ukraine handsomely during their qualification group, 6-1 and 3-0, so they will be strong favourites to win that final playoff tie in November and December.

23 min Potter dithers and loses the ball in a dangerous area, which ultimately leads to a low shot from Saich that is saved by Hampton.

20 min James’ brilliant cross from the left is headed wide by Russo, who was penalised for a challenge on Markou anyway.

19 min Not any more: Czechia have gone 2-1 up in Paisley, so Scotland lead 3-2 on aggregate.

18 min “Scotland are playing Czechia in the second leg of their play off in Paisley tonight,” writes Simon McMahon. “Two-nil down from the first leg, Czechia got one back through an absolute screamer from 35 yards that is well worth seeking out on the BBC website, but Scotland equalised immediately so it’s currently 3-1 on aggregate.”

Lauren James scores yet another belter. Le Tissier surged infield, to the edge of the D, and played a square pass that was diverted into the path of James by a stretching defender. James took a touch and swished a rising drive into the far corner with her left foot. Katergiannaki had no chance.

14 min England enjoy their first extended spell of possession until Le Tissier wanders offside. As in the first leg on Friday, she’s almost playing as a right-winger when England have the ball.

12 min A through pass from James again releases Russo, this time on the right side of the area. Russo eschews the shot and slides a low cross that is cut out by a Greece defender. She was unselfish to a fault because that was an excellent scoring opportunity.

9 min Sarri chips a dangerous cross from the left that is punched away under pressure by Hampton. Greece’s front three have started very sharply.

7 min The goal aside – admittedly a pretty big aside – Greece have started well. They’re pressing England as much as possible, a brave but also risky approach.

4 min Papatheodorou almost replies straight away, sweeping a left-foot shot from the edge of the area that is pushed round the post by the diving Hampton. Good save.

1 min England, in the shape of Alessia Russo, kick off from left to right as we watch.

More than 22,000 tickets were issued for this match. It looks like scarcely half of that figure are here inside this stadium at the moment. The atmosphere is certainly livelier than it was in Crete on Friday, at least, and there was a very loud roar for Ella Toone when her name was read out among the list of substitutes, which was interesting.

There was a slight feel of England going through the motions on Friday – hopefully they will have a bit more zip and style about their game tonight, to entertain those who have turned up.

Sarina Wiegman’s pre-match thoughts

[On the debutant Lexi Potter] I hope she will bring what she has done for Chelsea and in our training sessions. She’s impressed me, the staff and the team. She’s a big talent.

[On the inclusion of Jess Carter] There’s a lot of competition in that position. We will probably be one v one a lot in defence, which is something she’s good at.

We want to be more ruthless, and that’s about having the positioning right, making the right decision and executing better than we did. That’s what we’ve been talking about a lot in the last couple of days.

It took a labyrinthine move from Sarina Wiegman’s team to find a way through deep-lying Greece. On the outskirts of Heraklion, the ancient city of Knossos, which is associated with the legend of the Minotaur and the labyrinth constructed by Daedalus to contain it, Laura Blindkilde Brown’s quick pass to Alessia Russo was artfully flicked first time to her Arsenal teammate Georgia Stanway and the midfielder slotted in past the goalkeeper Fafailia Petaloti.

There were muted celebrations after the goal, reflective of the frustration they felt at having taken 39 minutes to get their first goal against the team ranked 54 places below them.

That was a familiar frustration because, despite two Euros wins and a World Cup final, England have struggled to completely shake free of the accusation that they struggle against low blocks. In spite of the 3-1 scoreline and their dominance in possession, the Lionesses didn’t look comfortable or particularly happy for stretches of the match.

England have two jobs to do tonight. The first, avoiding an almighty upset and progressing past Greece on aggregate in their Women’s World Cup playoff to reach a final tie, should be a formality for one of the world’s best-resourced teams. The second, honing their style to play like contenders for next summer’s World Cup in Brazil, is a far trickier but crucial challenge.

Friday’s relatively uninspiring 3-1 first-leg victory in Crete left room for improvement and England had plenty to work on as they trained at St George’s Park on Monday under gloomy-looking clouds. More broadly, over the next eight months, there are six questions facing the European champions.

1. Can England defend well enough to win a world title?

England had 58 touches in Greece’s box and turned that into three goals, whereas Greece had two touches in England’s box but managed to score and hit the crossbar. Sarina Wiegman said she was not happy her team had conceded. Their defending in June’s 4-0 defeat by Spain also left much to be desired, and it feels as if England are not yet certain about who should partner the captain, Leah Williamson, at centre-back. Wiegman mentioned on Monday that stopping counterattacks was something they must fix – they also struggled defending quick breaks in April 2025 when losing in Belgium. That year, they found a way to win the Euros but they must tighten up defensively if they want to win a first world title in the Maracanã in July.

Have you signed up for Moving the Goalposts, our weekly women’s football newsletter? If not, you need to consider your life choices. Here’s a snippet of this week’s edition.

Japan have constantly pushed the boundaries in women’s football, whether it be with regular success in Asia or their ability to beat the biggest nations in the world.

Nadeshiko won the Women’s World Cup in 2011 and reached another final in 2015, while more established countries fell by the wayside. Japan have not replicated that success but did win the Women’s Asian Cup this year under the guidance of Nils Nielsen, who has since been succeeded by Michihisa Kano, and most of the biggest stars play outside the country, with 24 contracted to Women’s Super League clubs alone.

Japan are discreet about the secrets behind their success, particularly the easy-on-the-eye style that has become a trademark of the men’s and women’s teams, but one of those secrets lies in the Japanese Football Association (JFA) creating the JFA Academy.

There are three that take girls across the country of 123 million people: Fukushima, Sakai and Imabari. A fourth, Kumamoto Uki, is a boys’ academy only. Fukushima was the first to open, in 2006, with Sakai following in 2012 and Imabari in 2015.

Shota Mishio, an analyst for the national team when they conquered the world in 2011, recently coached in the Fukushima academy, which since the nuclear disaster that preceded their World Cup success by months has moved to Susono City. He offers an insight into how they are able not only to develop world-class individuals but to mould them into a successful unit for the national team.