England are in control of their World Cup play-off with Greece after winning the first leg 3-1 in Crete. Goals from Georgia Stanway, Maya Le Tissier and Alessia Russo moved the Lionesses into a strong position for Tuesday's second leg in Leicester. Calliste Brookshire, who plays for Rangers in Scotland, pulled one back late on for a Greece side ranked 58th in the world. The winner will play Slovakia or Ukraine in round two on the road to Brazil 2027.
Lauren James saw a stunning chip from long range ruled out for offside in the first half, and the Lionesses, forced into the play-offs after finishing behind Spain in qualifying, were not at their sharpest in that period. They were almost shocked when Ioanna Papatheodorou cracked a shot against the crossbar from 35 yards.
England grabbed the advantage when Stanway finished a slick move combining with Laura Blindkilde Brown and Russo. After the break, Le Tissier thumped in from an angle before Russo found the bottom corner from Beth Mead's square pass just four minutes later, as England swiftly took the game away from Greece.
Brookshire's neat footwork in the box gave the underdogs some hope, but Jess Park blasted a shot against the underside of the crossbar in stoppage time. This perhaps signals that Sarina Wiegman's side have more firepower in their arsenal for the return leg.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing