Ukraine vs England live: Lionesses kick off World Cup qualifying with six-goal thrashing

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·3. März 2026

Ukraine vs England live: Lionesses kick off World Cup qualifying with six-goal thrashing

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Sarina Wiegman eyes more success with England

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England women kicked off their 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign in rampant fashion as they thrashed Ukraine 6-1 in Antalya.

It was very much a game of two halves with the Lionesses finding themselves frustrated during the first 45 minutes, failing to find the breakthrough as Ukraine’s low block held firm.

But after Alessia Russo’s opener soon after the restart, the floodgates opened with the Arsenal striker adding another to her tally three minutes later, before braces from Georgia Stanway and Jess Park took the game out of sight.

Yana Kalinina did get one back for Ukraine before the hour mark but it proved a mere consolation, with Sarina Wiegman’s European champions getting off to the perfect start as they look to chase global glory next summer.

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Report: England thrash Ukraine to kick off World Cup qualifying in style

Georgia Stanway scored twice and added an assist to get England's World Cup qualifying campaign off to a winning start with a 6-1 victory over Ukraine in Antalya.

The ongoing war in the hosts' home country saw the contest staged in Turkey, where Ukraine stubbornly held strong in a goalless first half.

Alessia Russo got the scoring started with a quickfire double after the break before Yana Kalinina replied two minutes before the hour.

Stanway restored England's two-goal advantage with a penalty six minutes later, then found the back of the net again with 20 minutes remaining before Jess Park fired in two more.

England thrash Ukraine to kick off World Cup qualifying in style

Ukraine 1-6 England: Georgia Stanway starred as the Lionesses shook off a frustrating first half to hit Ukraine for six

Next up for the Lionesses

England have passed their first qualifying test, and they’ll be back on home soil for their next outing as they face Iceland at the City Ground on Saturday.

Iceland faced holders Spain this evening - England’s big rivals for top spot in the group - but weren’t able to do the Lionesses a favour as Claudia Pina inspired victory.

Catch you next time!

(REUTERS)

Will Castle3 March 2026 20:00

Sarina Wiegman gives her post-match thoughts

“I’m happy with the result,” Wiegman said. “I found the performance good. It was a big difference of course because the first half we didn’t score and we should have scored.

“I think we totally controlled the game and we did well, just in the final cross, the connections in front of goal and the quality with the shot, or final touch wasn’t good.”

When asked about her half-time team talk, she added: “I wouldn’t say [they were] tough words because I think we put a lot of effort it, and we played the way we wanted to, we just wanted to score more goals.

“We did have shots on goal, but I think [only four of 37 were on target] so we need to do that better.”