Keira Walsh admitted England didn’t have the “options” to take care of Spain as their bid for automated qualification for the Girls’s World Cup took an enormous hit.
England suffered a 4-0 defeat to Spain – their heaviest loss underneath Sarina Wiegman – with Alexis Putellas main the rout with a brace on both aspect of half-time.
Patri Guijarro and Claudia Pina additionally acquired on the scoresheet, that means England conceded 4 objectives in a World Cup qualifier for the very first time.
Earlier than this match, they’d not misplaced a qualifier since November 2002.
England had wanted to keep away from defeat to safe prime spot in Group C, however their destiny is now out of their palms after Spain leapfrogged them within the desk.
They named an skilled squad for the match. Their beginning XI contained gamers with a mixed whole of 763 caps.
That’s the second most for a match underneath Wiegman, behind the 774 caps the XI had forward of the 2025 Girls’s Euro remaining.
“I simply suppose there was numerous areas we weren’t ok,” Walsh informed ITV. “Spain performed extremely nicely at house, however I believe there are numerous issues we may have carried out higher.
“I do not suppose we have been ok, however they have been very, very sharp, in order that made it a really tough sport for us.
4 – England have conceded 4 objectives in a Girls’s World Cup qualifier for the very first time.
Earlier than tonight, they hadn’t misplaced a qualifier since November 2002. Shocked. pic.twitter.com/TO6SHU0ysT
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 5, 2026
“It felt like they’d our bodies in every single place. It was very tough to get out of our personal field. I haven’t got options. Clearly, we’ll look again, however proper now the feelings are very excessive – it was a disappointing sport.
“We have nonetheless acquired a small probability to qualify. It is out of our palms. All we are able to do is management how we play the following sport and hope Iceland do us a favour.”
England struggled in Mallorca, with Spain racking up 21 pictures price 3.5 anticipated objectives (xG), whereas the guests have been restricted to only three off-target makes an attempt whereas accumulating 0.2 xG.
England’s remaining group sport is towards Ukraine on Tuesday, however they know even a win may not be sufficient to safe prime spot.
The Lionesses will solely prime the group in the event that they higher Spain’s outcome, with La Roja going through Iceland of their final qualifier.
“A really tough evening. The distinction was huge,” Wiegman informed ITV.
“We weren’t at our greatest, though I assumed we began nicely. Once they acquired right into a rhythm and acquired the primary aim, we did not get to our strengths, they usually performed rather well.
“It additionally has to do with an excellent Spain tonight. We needed to hurt them within the again within the first half, particularly after these couple of moments that began nicely, we performed quick and harmed ourselves.
“We should always have skipped gamers, and we simply did not get there. We discovered it actually exhausting to maintain the ball. It has to do with us and likewise Spain.
“We have to stick collectively, and we’ve got yet one more sport on Tuesday to point out what we are able to do. These are the toughest moments. We now have to recuperate from this and present we’re nonetheless an excellent staff.”
