International report: England delight, Dutch draw and surprising defeat for Spain | OneFootball

Alex Greenwood, Jess Park and Lauren Hemp all started as England defeated Republic of Ireland 2-1 in their UEFA Women's Championship qualifying clash at Carrow Road.

Greenwood came in for Millie Bright at centre-back, Park replaced Ella Toone, Hemp kept her place in the side while Chloe Kelly – the goalscoring hero at the last Euros – came on for the final half hour as a second half substitute. Khiara Keating was an unused sub.

Arsenal’s Alessia Russo opened the scoring on five minutes as she moved onto Beth Mead’s pass to finish one on one past Courtney Brosnan.

Former City midfielder Georgia Stanway, who spent seven years with us between 2015 and 2022 before moving to Bayern Munich, doubled the Lionesses lead from the spot with a cool and calm finish just before the hour mark.

The penalty was earned by current Blues ace Hemp, who was brought down in the box by Niamh Fahey.

She was replaced just before the final whistle by Chelsea's Aggie Beever-Jones.

Republic of Ireland bagged a consolation in injury time courtesy of Galway United's Julie-Ann Russell.

The victory pushed England up into second spot in League A Group 3 on 10 points, two behind leaders France who beat Sweden 2-1.

Sarina Wiegman’s side now take on the Swedes in Gothenburg on Tuesday, kick-off 18:00 (UK) with a draw guaranteeing safe passage through to Euro 2025 in Switzerland as the Lionesses look to defend their crown.

New signing Vivianne Miedema played the full match as Netherlands drew 0-0 with Italy in UEFA Women's Championship qualifying.

Kerstin Casparij, meanwhile, was withdrawn at half-time in Fortuna Sittard Stadium with the goalless draw keeping the Dutch top of League A Group 1 with eight points from five games.

That’s two points ahead of second placed Norway, who they face in their final game on Tuesday, kick-off 18:00 (UK) at Brann Stadium in Bergen.

Laia Aleixandri played 90 minutes as reigning world champions Spain suffered a surprising 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic in Chomutov while Leila Ouahabi was an unused substitute.

Montserrat Tome’s side, comfortably top of League A Group 2 in UEFA Women's Championship qualifying, were ahead after 15 minutes thanks to Barcelona’s Ballon d’Or Feminin winner Aitana Bonmati’s right-footed drive into the top left corner which took goalkeeper Olivie Lukasova by surprise.

But the hosts, at the foot of the qualifying table, were back level just before the break when Katerina Svitkova finished from close-range before going ahead from the spot five minutes after the restart.

Eva Bartonova fired home the penalty after Franny Cerna was felled by goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez, who dwelt on the ball too long in the box before felling the Sparta Prague midfielder.

Spain’s hopes of gaining parity weren’t helped by a straight red card in the 70th minute, Irene Paredes dismissed after a high boot on goalscorer Svitkova, who needed treatment after the late challenge in the centre of the park.

Spain top the group with 12 points from five games, this defeat preceded by four victories – a 7-0 away win over Belgium, a 3-1 home triumph over the Czech Republic as well as defeats of Denmark home and away.

Three points ahead of the Danes in second spot, they now just need a point in their home clash with Belgium next Tuesday, 18:00 (UK) kick-off at Riazor Stadium in Coruna.