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Lionesses need setbacks like Spain loss - Wiegman
TL;DR
Sarina Wiegman believes England's 4-0 loss to Spain is a necessary setback for improvement. The Lionesses must rely on Spain dropping points against Iceland to avoid play-offs for the 2027 Women's World Cup.
Key points
- England lost 4-0 to Spain in Majorca
- The Lionesses missed automatic qualification for the 2027 Women's World Cup
- They need Spain to drop points against Iceland
- England will face Ukraine at 20:00 BST
- Wiegman believes setbacks are necessary for improvement
Sarina Wiegman says her "hurt" England side need setbacks like their humbling defeat by Spain in order to improve.
The Lionesses missed a chance to automatically qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup with a poor 4-0 defeat in Majorca on Friday.
They must hope world champions Spain drop points against Iceland on Tuesday to avoid going into the play-offs, which will be played this autumn.
England, who take on Ukraine at the same time (20:00 BST) at Hill Dickinson Stadium, will need to better Spain's result to finish top of their group.
"You don't want these moments, but at some point you need some setbacks to get even more urgency to improve and to do better now, when you have the time to do that," Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"We had these moments before Euro 2025 too, when we had friendlies and we tried out things. It gave us a big setback, and we thought 'OK, what can we do better?'
"We have a year to work on that. But the first thing is now we have to play Ukraine. We want to win that game.
"We want to give a great performance and show as individuals, and as a team, how good we are. After that, we'll see what our next challenge is in October."
'We can come back from defeat'
Spain were far superior to England on Friday despite the Lionesses winning 1-0 in the reverse fixture at Wembley in April.
That had put Wiegman's team in the driving seat and anything other than defeat on Friday would have secured their place at next year's World Cup, but now Spain have the edge in their head-to-head record and it is out of England's hands.
With only the top team in the group securing automatic qualification, one of the European champions or reigning world champions were always going to miss out.
Wiegman said a member of her staff is at Spain's game to keep tabs on the scoreline but they will not share that information with players, who are chasing a win over Ukraine regardless.
The Dutchwoman said she will make "some changes" to the side who faced Spain, with all 24 players training at Melwood on Monday afternoon.
"Of course it doesn't feel nice and it should be like that because this is not what we wanted. There was disappointment and there was hurt," Wiegman added.
"We're a competitive team. We want to win. We were really disappointed - it's a big setback. At the same time, we had a day of disappointment and then we move on.
"That's how it works. We stick together. We want a good performance and to show we're England and that we can come back from those moments."
It's not time to panic - Hemp
Image source, Getty Images
Q&A
What was the score of England's recent match against Spain?
England lost 4-0 to Spain in their recent match.
What do the Lionesses need to avoid play-offs for the Women's World Cup?
The Lionesses need Spain to drop points against Iceland to avoid going into the play-offs.
When will England play against Ukraine?
England will play against Ukraine at 20:00 BST on the same day as the Spain-Iceland match.
What did Sarina Wiegman say about setbacks for the team?
Sarina Wiegman stated that setbacks like the loss to Spain are necessary for the team to feel urgency to improve.
