The Lionesses have been put in a farcical position

England Women 3-0 Ukraine (Carter 14’, Stanway 37’, Mead 67’)

HILL DICKINSON STADIUM – The headlines should not look so damning when they only tell half the story.

Even with a cruise-control victory over Ukraine, England failed to qualify automatically for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. They have been consigned to the play-offs, left to rue that crushing 4-0 defeat in Spain last week.

The Lionesses will not want to make any excuses. That devastatingly sub-par performance in Mallorca, the like of which had never been seen under Sarina Wiegman, is the reason they will have to play four more matches if they are to make it to next summer’s fiesta in Brazil.

There is nevertheless an element of farce in all this. Only one team could qualify automatically from a group containing Spain, the world champions, and England, the back-to-back European champions. The new format, where second and third in the League A groups reach the play-offs as seeded teams and the fourth team as unseeded, has also denied Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway an automatic spot.