“We just didn’t play good enough,” England head coach Sarina Wiegman said simply. “And we couldn’t step up any more.”
The UEFA World Cup qualifying match was supposed to be when England set out a formidable case to challenge Spain at next summer’s tournament. Avoiding defeat at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix in their penultimate qualifier would have seen them seal their spot in Brazil, becoming one of the first European nations to do so — and, in doing so, condemning Spain to the play-offs and stamping their authority on this rivalry.
Instead, that honor went to Germany after their convincing 2-0 win over Norway in Group A4, while England was left stunned 4-0 against the reigning champions. Midfielder Patri Guijarro’s opening goal in the 19th minute was just reward for a Spain side who had seized full control. Alexia Putellas scored either side of halftime before Claudia Pina added a fourth in the 78th minute.
England had no answer. They mustered only seven touches in Spain’s box and three shots, with none on target, to Spain’s 21.
They have suffered setbacks under Wiegman before, but have not been dominated like this. According to Opta, Friday’s loss was the Lionesses’ heaviest defeat since losing 6-2 to Germany in the 2009 European Championship final, and their heaviest without scoring since a 4-0 loss to Germany in September 2003.
“I expected a very tight game of course, a very competitive game,” Wiegman said, “but I think there was a difference tonight, so that’s of course really disappointing and that hurts.”
It was a generational poor defensive performance, in which Spain were at their fluid attacking best and England’s feted defensive resilience seemed to evaporate.
Having beaten Spain on penalties in last summer’s European Championship final and again in the reverse World Cup qualifier at Wembley in April, it is also a shock to the system.
England can still top their qualifying group if results go their way on Tuesday against Ukraine and in Spain’s game against Iceland. However, goal differential is in Spain’s favor, 13-5 heading into the final day. Even if England do not top the group and earn one of the four UEFA qualifying spots offered this international window, they will have the opportunity to qualify through the play-offs, where another seven teams from the confederation will qualify.
So, in terms of qualifying for next summer’s World Cup, this game is not necessarily a cause for panic. But in terms of winning it the tournament, which is unequivocally England’s goal, it is.
“We weren’t at our best tonight, and Spain was, and they just didn’t let us get back in the game,” Wiegman said.
That is the problem. England built last summer’s European victory on an unnerving ability to win even when they were not at their best. They came from behind to win in all three of their knockout games, courtesy of a never-say-die mentality.
That was all part of the charm — but it is not a sustainable approach going into a World Cup. It relies on an assumption that England will be defensively resilient enough to stop games slipping completely out of reach. Spain brutally demonstrated that that is not always the case.
“When we’re in a lower block, it’s really important against Spain to be really compact, to not be dragged out too quickly, because there’s so many rotations,” Wiegman said, explaining how England’s game plan went wrong. “They really want to drag you out, then exploit the space just right behind you, or in behind the defence, and I think at moments we were too expansive.”
Each of Spain’s goals could be traced back to England’s defensive structure being pulled apart, with the first two being the best examples.
For the opening goal, Guijarro nutmegged midfielder Georgia Stanway in Spain’s half and burst into acres of space. She took only two more touches to carry her most of the way through England’s half before striking into the bottom right corner. Putellas’ first goal, a sucker punch before half-time, stood because defender Alex Greenwood was out of step with the rest of England’s defence and played her narrowly onside. It was slick, fast, simple, and England’s vulnerabilities were brutally exposed.
Wiegman said her side planned to use long balls to escape Spain’s press at times, and to press high themselves to create one-on-one opportunities. Spain played through England’s press with ease. As with Guijarro’s opener, goalkeeper Hannah Hampton’s uncharacteristically wayward distribution did not help England’s attempts to bypass Spain’s pressure.
There is an argument to be made that this is a blip, hence why the possible impact on qualifying is so painful. England have won four of their five qualifiers, only conceding once before tonight, but this single defeat to the world champions has put automatic qualification out of their hands.
One game against Spain does not make them a poor team. But the painful reality is that if England are going to win the World Cup, they have to be able to match the world champions — no matter whether they catch them at a high or low point.
These sides have now faced each other in consecutive major finals, winning one each. It is not hard to imagine them meeting in the knockout stages in Brazil, and the worry is that when both are at their best, Spain’s ceiling looks higher — and this defeat has shown that England’s floor is lower than they thought.
Improvements must begin with the defence. Much has been made of England’s attacking options, and Wiegman tweaked the forward line with half an hour left, dropping Alessia Russo into the No. 10 behind Lauren Hemp and substituting Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead on as wingers. It had little impact because the issues were rooted further back. England’s playmakers were constantly closed down, and at right-back Lucy Bronze was often pulled out of position. The centre-back pairing of Lotte Wubben-Moy and Esme Morgan, though they kept a clean sheet against Spain in April, did not stay as compact as they needed to.
Wiegman made her only defensive changes, replacing Wubben-Moy with Jess Carter and Bronze with Niamh Charles, in the 85th minute. The defence had broken down long before. England have excelled at substitutes to shake up an attack; they need to be able to use their bench to stabilise the defence, too.
Unless they beat Ukraine and Spain fail to beat Iceland, England will have to face two rounds of two-legged play-offs in autumn to secure their place in Brazil.
They would still be favourites to progress through those. But to win the World Cup, they need to establish themselves as favourites against everyone — especially Spain.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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