“England Women Beat Greece 3-1 in World Cup Playoff First Leg: Stanway, Le Tissier, Russo S” — what this page in the network covers. England took a commanding step toward the 2027 Women's World Cup with a 3-1 victory over Greece in the first leg of their playoff tie at the Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium in Heraklion. Goals from Georgia Stanway, Maya Le Tissier, and Alessia Russo gave the Lionesses a two-goal cushion, but a late strike from Greece's Ioanna Papatheodorou kept the tie alive. Despite the win, England were far from their best against a Greek side ranked much lower, and manager Sarina Wiegman will expect a sharper performance in the second leg at Wembley on Tuesday.
The away goals rule no longer applies, so Greece still have a chance if they can overturn the deficit. The Lionesses, European champions in 2022 and World Cup finalists in 2023, are heavy favorites to progress, but this display showed there is work to do. The full version stays on the original page, which this listing opens directly.