Spain Women 4-0 England: Sarina Wiegman has urged her players to react as their biggest defeat in 17 years makes automatic World Cup qualification impossible | Football news

Sarina Wiegman has urged her players to ‘stick together’ after suffering their heaviest defeat in 17 years.

The Lions lost 4-0 to Spain in Mallorca, meaning their 2027 World Cup berth is out of their hands.

Goals from Pati Guijarro, Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas put England in the lead, leaving them in second place in Group A3 with only one game remaining.

The result was England’s heaviest defeat since the Euro 2009 final (6-2 vs Germany), and Wiegman admitted the manner of the result hurt him and his players.

“Yeah, it hurts,” Wiegman said in a press conference after the game.

“I was hoping for a completely different game. I was expecting a tough game, a very competitive game. But tonight was different.

“We wanted to press for seconds, but they played directly on top of our media and even if we went down a little, they will play.

“They got their first goal which was to bend the ball, we lost the ball when you don’t want to throw it away. After that we didn’t have a goal.

“We were fighting hard to keep the ball and get long passes, even if we played at the back. They played really well, and we didn’t play well.

“We were really fighting to stay strong without the ball, even in our own half.

“What I’m trying to do now is think about what caused this. What really went wrong, did we execute our game plan correctly? I don’t think so. It’s because of us but also because of Spain.

“I’m frustrated and very disappointed but so are the players. It’s sad because we’ve lost a few times but we’ve never lost by more than one goal.”

The chances of qualification are slim but England must respond against Ukraine

With their route to Brazil next year out of their hands, Wiegman is not fazed by talk of automatic qualification or the play-offs. Instead, he is focused on seeing the response from his team at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Tuesday night.

“If we qualify, there are different preparations than if we don’t. First of all, we are very focused on Tuesday. We want to do well in that game, and win – that’s the most important thing.

“After that we know what it’s about. Spain also has to go to Iceland, we’ve seen how difficult this game is. Let’s see what will happen on Tuesday. First of all we may qualify, it depends on Spain, and the other is that we are in the play-off.

“I want to react, that we are a team, a strong team and we play against a strong team on Tuesday and stick together. That’s the most important thing.”

Stanway was ‘very disappointed’ by England’s performance

England midfielder Georgia Stanway to Sky Sports News:

“The better team won. There’s not much to say, we didn’t have the quality and we were a little late in all areas. We missed opportunities, we were late to the ball, their quality was stronger than ours.

“We are disappointed, Spain beat us at home, they beat them at home, we are tied on points and we have a lot to play for in this group, which we are focusing on on Tuesday.

“We have to go through it, process it and separate it. Of course it’s difficult to be a midfielder, you’re always in the mix.

“It will be interesting to see how we can change our situation or change those different things to stop those goals.

“We knew coming here would be difficult. They have a really good home record, we said before the game they are one of the best teams in the world and they stop you from playing your game, but also take charge.

“We are very disappointed today but we want to thank the fans for coming – and now we are very focused on Tuesday.”

What’s next for the Lions?

Sarina Wiegman’s team will look to crush Ukraine in the final qualifying match for the 2027 World Cup at Wembley on Tuesday at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, at 8pm.