- Published
The ease in which England saw off Greece in round one of the Women's World Cup qualifying play-offs showed just how inefficient the structure currently is.
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structure → see → offs
The two-time European champions were superior in every sense as they won 8-1 on aggregate against a Greece side ranked 55 places lower in the world.
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they → win → world
Realistically, Greece stood little chance in a two-legged tie against Sarina Wiegman's side despite performing well in their home 3-1 defeat.
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Greece → stand → defeat
England's resounding victory was not a one-off as Europe's other top nations, who were forced to drop into the play-offs, also met lower-ranked opposition and won emphatically.
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who → force → opposition
It was not an evening that truly reflects the growth of European women's football, which has become more competitive than ever in recent years.
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which → reflect → years
It was, however, indicative that the qualification process perhaps needs reviewing by Uefa.
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process → need → Uefa
Why did we see heavy scorelines?
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we → see → scorelines
One of the main reasons for Tuesday night's results was that only one team from the league phase groups received automatic qualification.
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team → receive → qualification
The Netherlands, 2017 European champions, finished second in their group behind France, ranked sixth in the world.
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Netherlands → finish → world
They went on to beat Hungary 11-0 on aggregate.
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They → go → aggregate
Norway, World Cup winners in 1995 and six-time European finalists, lost out to giants Germany in their group and ended up beating Romania 8-0.
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Norway → lose → Romania
Other League A fallouts Sweden and the Republic of Ireland thrashed their opponents 15-0 and 12-0 respectively.
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Sweden → thrash → opponents
So it was no surprise when back-to-back European champions England, who were drawn in the same group as world champions Spain, went on to record another heavy victory against much weaker opposition from League C in their play-off.
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who → draw → off
"Of course we wanted to qualify straight away, that's not the case," said England manager Wiegman when asked about the qualification process again on Tuesday.
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Wiegman → want → Tuesday
"For us now, the facts are that we are in the play-offs, we have played Greece, now we're through, and now we're going to play Ukraine.
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we → play → Ukraine
"Uefa will review how things are set up and see whether they think it works or it should be better, or different.
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it → review → ?
I don't think it's my place now to review that."
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it → think → that
The Lionesses still have another two-legged tie against Ukraine to play, with the first leg taking place away from home on 1 December and the return fixture at Wembley Stadium on 5 December.
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leg → have → December
Ukraine are a side who England beat twice in the league phase by an aggregate score of 9-1.
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England → beat → 9
It seems absurd that they should have to beat the same team on at least three occasions as part of their qualification process.
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they → seem → process
England have won seven of their last eight qualifying matches, scoring 21 goals, conceding just six times, and their only defeat was away from home against world champions Spain.
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defeat → win → Spain
They came runners-up in League A3 only on their head-to-head record with the best team in the world - they even beat Spain 1-0 at Wembley.
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they → come → Wembley
England's overall tally of 15 points in the league phase was beaten by just three other teams - Germany, Switzerland and Hungary.
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tally → beat → teams
Switzerland and Hungary were also in qualifying groups in League B and League C that did not include a single team from the world's top 45 ranked nations.
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that → include → nations
In contrast England, who were seeded in League A, had Iceland - ranked 13th - as a tricky opponent, and world number one Spain in their four-team group.
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who → seed → group
When qualifying for the 2023 Women's World Cup, England beat Latvia on two occasions, winning 20-0 and 10-0 .
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England → qualify → occasions
That tournament saw an increase from 24 to 32 teams and while qualification was still one-sided, the showpiece in Australia and New Zealand was a different story.
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showpiece → see → Australia
England were tested against debutants Haiti in the group stages, narrowly winning 1-0, and by Colombia in their quarter-final, despite the South American side failing to qualify for the previous tournament.
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side → test → tournament
The level of competition was growing and it was evident even more so across Europe with England failing to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games on behalf of Team GB after finishing second to the Netherlands in their Nations League group.
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England → grow → group
A draw with Portugal and defeat by Belgium were suffered by England the following year, while they were forced to overcome two penalty shootouts in Euro 2025.
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they → suffer → Euro
There is no denying that England's competition has improved but they were still dealt a rough hand in this year's World Cup qualifying campaign.
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they → be → campaign
Following their costly 4-0 defeat by Spain in June, Wiegman said: "The competition in Europe is really high.
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competition → follow → Europe
"What I'm disappointed about is that we win five games, we have 15 points and we're in a group with the world champions and then you can't qualify.
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you → disappoint → champions
"I'm happy with the performances but not the result of us having to go into the play-offs.
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us → have → offs
What is frustrating for England is that while they picked up a routine win over Greece and now prepare to face an opponent they have already played twice in 2026, their potential World Cup rivals are getting to play matches against top-tier teams.
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rivals → pick → teams
Two of the tournament favourites Germany and Japan met in a friendly match on Tuesday night; Brazil and Argentina played out a 2-2 draw and four-time world champions USA played Spain twice in five days in a mouth-watering meeting.
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USA → meet → meeting
Fifa has announced that the 2031 Women's World Cup will be expanded from 32 to 48 teams and it is too early to know if that is the right decision.
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that → announce → teams
But while larger scorelines remain, it is clear it is more a direct result of a European qualification process that doesn't benefit the majority.
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that → remain → majority
The Aporia
