England women beat Greece in first World Cup qualifying play-off leg

England defeated Greece 3-1 in Crete on October 9. The victory gave Sarina Wiegman's team an advantage ahead of the return leg in qualifying for the 2027 Women's World Cup.

Georgia Stanway opened the scoring in the 39th minute after a move involving Laura Blindkilde Brown and Alessia Russo. Earlier, Lauren James had a goal ruled out for offside, while Ioanna Papatheodorou struck England's crossbar.

After the break, Maya Le Tissier doubled the lead in the 63rd minute. Four minutes later, Russo scored England's third from a Beth Mead pass. The visitors held a three-goal advantage before Greece replied in the 78th minute.

Jess Park hit the crossbar in stoppage time, but the final score remained 3-1, as confirmed by England Football's official fixture list. The first-leg result does not mean England have already secured a World Cup place.

The return leg takes place on October 13 at Leicester's King Power Stadium. The aggregate winner will face Slovakia or Ukraine in the next qualifying stage for the tournament in Brazil. England's immediate task is to preserve their advantage across the two matches.