England started their 2027 World Cup qualifiers in perfect style with a convincing 6-1 victory over Ukraine in Turkey.
The Lionesses were frustrated by Ukraine’s tenacious defense in the first half, but bounced back with renewed vigor after the restart, scoring six goals and en route to victory in their first competitive match since winning Euro 2025.
Alessia Russo, Georgia Stanway and Jess Park all scored doubles at neutral Mardan Antalyaspor, chosen as Ukraine’s designated home venue for games due to the ongoing war with Russia.
Russo’s two goals in just four minutes gave them a comfortable lead, but Yana Kalinina’s goal in Ukraine’s first attack signaled a change in the game.
However, any hopes of a comeback quickly disappeared when Lauren Hemp was brought down in the area shortly after the end of the match.
England celebrate after defeating Ukraine 6-1
Stanway stepped up to take the spot-kick and then doubled his tally for the night with a powerful shot into the top left corner.
Park’s tap-in and well-placed curling shot capped off an impressive start for the Lionesses in Group A3 ahead of their next game against Iceland at Nottingham’s City Ground on March 7.
Stanway: We found our quality
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Sarina Wiegman and Georgia Stanway give their thoughts after England’s six second-half hits in their first World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.
England midfielder Georgia Stanway told ITV:
“We needed a little more quality from the first half to the final third and we got it in the second half.
“Every point is very important in this qualifying stage, and yes, we are happy to have finished the job.
“You can see them working even harder now, and that will continue long after the final whistle for the rest of the campaign.”
England manager Sarina Wigman told Sky Sports:
“We put in a lot of effort, we just wanted to score more goals.
“We had to change the crosses a bit, so we swapped wingers from one side to the other.
“Every time we lost the ball, we were into it. That shows the mentality. We kept going together and kept creating chances.”
