The ease in which England saw off Greece in round one of the Women's World Cup qualifying play-offs showed just how inefficient the structure currently is. The two-time European champions were superior in every sense as they won 8-1 on aggregate against a Greece side ranked 55 places lower in the world. Realistically, Greece stood little chance in a two-legged tie against Sarina Wiegman's side despite performing well in their home 3-1 defeat.
England's resounding victory was not a one-off as Europe's other top nations, who were forced to drop into the play-offs, also met lower-ranked opposition and won emphatically. It was not an evening that truly reflects the growth of European women's football, which has become more competitive than ever in recent years. It was, however, indicative that the qualification process perhaps needs reviewing by Uefa.
One of the main reasons for Tuesday night's results was that only one team from the league phase groups received automatic qualification. The Netherlands, 2017 European champions, finished second in their group behind France, ranked sixth in the world. They went on to beat Hungary 11-0 on aggregate.
Norway, World Cup winners in 1995 and six-time European finalists, lost out to giants Germany in their group and ended up beating Romania 8-0. Other League A fallouts Sweden and the Republic of Ireland thrashed their opponents 15-0 and 12-0 respectively. So it was no surprise when back-to-back European champions England, who were drawn in the same group as world champions Spain, went on to record another heavy victory against much weaker opposition from League C in their play-off.
"Of course we wanted to qualify straight away, that's not the case," said England manager Wiegman when asked about the qualification process again on Tuesday. "For us now, the facts are that we are in the play-offs, we have played Greece, now we're through, and now we're going to play Ukraine. That's what my focus is on.
"Uefa will review how things are set up and see whether they think it works or it should be better, or different. I don't think it's my place now to review that." The Lionesses still have another two-legged tie against Ukraine to play, with the first leg taking place away from home on 1 December and the return fixture at Wembley Stadium on 5 December. Ukraine are a side who England beat twice in the league phase by an aggregate score of 9-1.
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