If there had been a vidiprinter at the King Power Stadium displaying the aggregate scorelines from the night’s Women’s World Cup qualifying playoffs around Europe, it might have looked more at home on the cricket scoreboard just over a mile further south at Leicestershire’s Grace Road. Sweden 15-0 against Lithuania. Republic of Ireland 12-0 against Kazakhstan.
Netherlands 11-0 against Hungary. How much, therefore, could be gleaned from England’s 8-1 aggregate win against Greece? It was, irrefutably, a significantly better performance from England, on a night when they got some of their mojo back, they played with a zip and panache, but overall there was plenty to observe but very little new information.
After 180 minutes of football and more than 3,000 miles travelled, to all who correctly guessed the outcome a week ago, congratulations, you were correct: the European champions were able to beat a team ranked outside the world’s top 50 over two legs. It is tempting to wax lyrical about Lauren James’ first-half display and how she relished in her free role, finding space, driving England up the pitch and toying with the defenders – truly, she can be the difference-maker in this Lionesses side next summer – but, when Greece aren’t attempting to mark one of the best forwards in the world, should we be surprised that she delivered two goals and an assist? It is similarly tempting to eulogise about the impressive debut of Lexi Potter, who looked at home in the midfield to such an extent that you could be forgiven for thinking it was her 50th cap rather than her first.
The 20-year-old, whose intelligent positional awareness, tidy passing and steady tempo allowed those around her to flourish higher up the pitch, can be proud of her display and deserves another start in the next round of the playoffs against Ukraine. But anyone who has watched the Women’s Super League this season already knew Potter would be a terrific addition to this team. We could also spend the next 24 hours praising the effectiveness of England’s new wingback system, comment on how adeptly Maya Le Tissier covered for the injured Lucy Bronze, praise the energy of Alessia Russo, rejoice in the debut handed to the London City Lionesses winger Freya Godfrey, who deserved her chance, or hail the ever-reliable goalscoring record of Georgia Stanway – even scoring with her head, at 5ft 5in – and examine how she fared in a higher role.
All of it, though, had to be taken with a great pinch of salt because the opponents were competing against the Faroe Islands and Georgia in League C of the qualifying groups, while England have won five games out of six in League A and must have wished they could have tested themselves against stronger opposition to try to prepare for next summer’s tournament. Even the locals seemed to realise this was all something of a formality; more than 22,000 tickets were issued but the eventual attendance looked far lower, perhaps with lack of jeopardy surrounding the occasion playing a role in that. The DJ at the King Power, one of the night’s star performers, tried their best to create a party atmosphere, as did the pitchside flameflowers pre-match and the exuberance of England’s forward line, but this was a tie that really did very little for the growth of the women’s game.
It was a rather good advert for the one-legged playoff ties used by men’s football in European qualification paths, single‑night matches with tension, competitiveness and a real edge to proceedings, as well as an efficient feel – it takes the men’s game a window to get through two rounds of playoffs, and the women’s game has another two matches still to go. The meetings in November and December with Ukraine – a side whom England beat 6-1 and 3-0 earlier in this qualifying process – are unlikely to feel any more challenging. That is no fault of England, Greece, nor Ukraine, but rather that of a growing sport still trying to figure out how to develop a qualification system with real balance.
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