North Eastern Metro Stars Overview

A complete guide to England women's year, including how to watch games live and more

England's Lionesses have always had great goalscorers. Even before the team was the major contender it is now, winning back-to-back European Championships under Sarina Wiegman and reaching a first Women's World Cup final, they could boast some incredible attacking talent, with Arsenal icon Kelly Smith, widely considered the Lionesses' greatest ever player, a prime example.

England will have to navigate the play-offs in order to reach the 2027 Women's World Cup, with Tuesday night's 3-0 win over Ukraine not enough to secure top spot in their qualifying group. The Lionesses went into the game knowing they needed a favour from Iceland against Spain, after La Roja thumped Sarina Wiegman's side on Friday, and they didn't get it, rendering their own victory meaningless in the chase for the sole automatic berth available.

It was all there for England on Friday, as they faced Spain in Mallorca with automatic qualification for the 2027 Women’s World Cup on the line. Avoid defeat and the Lionesses would punch their ticket to Brazil, forcing one of their biggest rivals for next summer’s title to have to navigate the play-offs. It was a huge opportunity, but one they spurned in incredible circumstances, suffering a 4-0 loss that stands out as the biggest for this team under Sarina Wiegman.