The reigning European champions find themselves on an unlikely path to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. We look ahead to England’s play-off first leg against Greece as Sarina Wiegman’s side begin their bid to secure qualification for the tournament.
Greece vs England: The Key Stats
The Opta supercomputer makes England clear favourites, with the Lionesses winning the first leg of this play-off in 85.1% of its simulations. This will be the first ever meeting between Greece and England. England are unbeaten in each of their last 41 fixtures when facing an opponent for the very first time (W34 D7). Greece are the only team with a 100%-win record in UEFA Women’s 2027 FIFA World Cup qualification.England find themselves in the unfamiliar position of having to navigate the FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying play-offs, kicking off against Greece on Friday at the Pankritio Stadium, a side they have never faced in their history across all international competitions.
It is the first time since September 2010 the Lionesses have found themselves in such a position.
England finished runners-up to Spain in their League A UEFA Women’s World Cup qualifying group after a damaging 4-0 defeat to the world champions on Matchday 5. Although the reigning European champions won the reverse fixture 1-0, Spain claimed automatic qualification on a head-to-head basis.
What perhaps is most remarkable is that England’s overall numbers were still among the best in qualifying. Only Germany (16) collected more points than the Lionesses (15), while only Spain (21) and Germany (18) scored more goals than England (13).
It does raise an interesting question about the qualification format. Despite ranking among the competition’s strongest teams by some of the most important metrics, England have been forced into the play-offs. That’s a debate for another day, however.
That heavy defeat in Spain was significant beyond its impact on qualification. At 4-0, it was England’s biggest loss in any competition since a 6-2 defeat to Germany in the final of the 2009 UEFA Women’s Euros under Hope Powell.
As a result, Sarina Wiegman’s side must now navigate the play-off route to secure their place at the tournament, having qualified for the last six editions.
Should the Lionesses progress past Greece across two legs, they will meet the winners of Slovakia’s tie with Ukraine in the second round of play-offs to secure their place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
And all the data, as one would expect, points in the European champions’ favour.
England vs Greece Form Guide
While England may not have expected to be here, they are no strangers to play-off football.
The Lionesses have contested six major tournament play-off ties previously, advancing from four, including routes to the 1999 and 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup finals and the 2001 UEFA Women’s European Championship.
Greece, meanwhile, are still chasing a historic first appearance at either a Women’s World Cup or Euros. This is only their second play-off tie for a major tournament, having lost 5-0 on aggregate to Belgium in qualifying for Euro 2025. There were encouraging signs within that tie, however, with Greece holding Belgium to a goalless draw in the first leg on home soil.
Recent form suggests this may not be as straightforward a task for England as the respective pedigrees of the two nations imply.
They have won just two of their last seven competitive away matches (D2 L3), having won 23 of their previous 25 such games (L2). Greece, by contrast, have lost only three of their last 10 home internationals (W4 D3).
For England, scoring first could prove crucial. Under Wiegman, they have won 51 of their 58 matches when opening the scoring (D5 L2), with their only defeats in such games coming against France in May 2024 and Spain in June 2025 (both 2-1).
Although there is no previous head-to-head history between the sides, England have plenty of experience when it comes to facing new European opposition. They are unbeaten in their last 15 competitive matches against a European nation they had never previously faced (W13 D2), scoring 87 goals and conceding just three. Their last defeat in such a fixture came against France in a World Cup qualifying play-off in October 2002.
England will also look to some of their key attacking talents to make the difference.
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