England put themselves in a strong position in their first Women’s World Cup play-off, with a 3-1 win over Greece in Crete on Friday evening.
Quickfire goals from Georgia Stanway broke the deadlock for the European champions in the first half before Le Tissier and Russo added to their tally just after the hour-mark.
Greece set up a slightly nervy ending when Kallisti Brouksair pulled one back, but Sarina Wiegman’s side held out for a two-goal cushion to take to King Power Stadium for the second leg on Tuesday.
England started well, with Stanway dragging a low shot wide of the left post and Laura Blindkilde Brown scuffing a tame shot straight at Rafailia-Dimitra Petaloti.
Moments later, the space opened up for Keira Walsh just outside the box, though her powerful drilled effort was pushed away by Petaloti.
James had the ball in the back of the net in the 19th minute, latching onto Stanway’s throughball before dinking a lovely effort over Petaloti after spotting the goalkeeper off her line. However, the goal was ruled out following a VAR check as James was offside.
Ioanna Papatheodorou gave England a scare, dancing her way through their half before taking aim from range, only to hit the corner of the goal frame.
Stanway broke the deadlock six minutes before half-time, with a slick England move exploiting the pockets in Greece’s defence as Russo teed up her Arsenal team-mate for a poked finish.
Le Tissier forced a sharp stop from Petaloti to spark the second half into life and then found space on the right of the box and, from the angle, beat the goalkeeper for power to score her first England goal in the 63rd minute.
Beth Mead then dragged wide moments after the restart, but was unselfish when she got the ball in the 67th minute, skipping past two challenges to tee up Russo for a pinpoint effort.
Greece burst back into life in the later stages, with Papatheodorou squaring it back to Brouksair, who sent her low shot across goal into the bottom-right corner 77 minutes in.
England kept pushing for a fourth towards the end, and substitute Jess Park powered her strike against the underside of the bar, though it bounced the wrong side of the goal line.
England Make Their Dominance Count
England enjoyed a largely successful World Cup qualifying campaign, but it was a 4-0 defeat to world champions Spain that proved particularly damaging.
With a place in next year’s tournament on the line, though, England made a strong start to their play-off campaign as they aim to use that path to a major tournament for a fifth time.
Greece had an impressive record of their own in qualifying, having gone through their League C campaign with a 100% win record, and they showed their fight until the end to ensure they got a goal on the board.
The Lionesses were utterly dominant, having 26 shots worth 2.07 expected goals (xG), with seven of those on target as Petaloti kept her team in the game for large parts. England also had 58 touches in the opposition box.
Greece, by contrast, mustered just 0.16 xG and scored with their only shot on target in the match, giving England a worry in the final 15 minutes to cut the deficit ahead of the second leg.
Stanway got the scoring going, meaning she has now scored against 23 different nations for England and has netted five goals during their qualifying campaign – more than any other player in the team.
They have now gone unbeaten in their last 42 fixtures when facing an opponent for the very first time (W35 D7), and Wiegman will be hoping for a similar performance next week.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Greece vs England stats from their 2027 Women’s World Cup play-off first-leg meeting at the Pankritio Stadio in Heraklion, Crete on Friday 9 October 2027.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Greece 1-3 England: Post Match Facts
England have won 20 of their last 21 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches (L1), netting 110 goals and conceding just three times across those 20 victories. Alessia Russo has scored 23 goals in 50 international starts; this century, the only player to net more across their first 50 England starts is Beth Mead (30, Kelly Smith also 23). Maya Le Tissier scored her first goal for England on her 15th senior international appearance – the Lionesses remain unbeaten in games when a Manchester United player has scored (W29 D1). Georgia Stanway is now the outright seventh top goalscorer in England’s history (34) – she is the Lionesses top scorer in qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup with five goals. Stanway is England’s joint-top goalscorer under Sarina Wiegman with 32 (level with Beth Mead); none of her last four international goals have been penalties, her joint-longest such run. Erica Meg Parkinson (18 years 174 days) became England’s youngest debutant since Lianne Sanderson against Hungary in May 2006 (18 years, 97 days).Enjoy this? Add Opta Analyst as a preferred source by clicking here.
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Greece 1-3 England Stats: Le Tissier and Russo Propel Wiegman’s Side to First-Leg Win Opta Analyst.
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