Sarina Wiegman made a few positional adjustments as a showdown with Spain looms, and Georgia Stanway and Lauren James shone
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here were few fireworks, but six points from six meant “job done” for England in their first two World Cup qualifiers. They might have preferred to score more goals to boost their goal difference, but these victories were essential in England’s quest to top this qualifying group before they face Spain.
With a warmly anticipated meeting with the world champions in April at Wembley, what will they have learned from these two competitive yet ever-so-slightly experimental qualifiers, a 6-1 win against Ukraine in Turkey on Tuesday and a 2-0 victory over Iceland in Nottingham on Saturday?
Energetic, purposeful and driven, Georgia Stanway would take the player of the March camp award if any such prize existed, after two productive performances. The Bayern Munich midfielder scored three times, her volley against Iceland in particular demonstrating her ability to time a run into the box and attack the space. She was even confident enough to shout for Alessia Russo to leave the cross for her to volley it home behind her.
