What missing out on automatic Women's World Cup qualification will mean for England as Lionesses lick their wounds and prepare for play-offs

It's worth stating first of all that, despite being likely to fall into the play-offs, it would still be a seismic shock if England did not qualify for the tournament in Brazil.

There are two rounds in the play-offs, and both will come in the form of two-legged ties, reducing the chances of a surprise one-off result that downs the Lionesses. Wiegman's side will also be one of the best teams in the mix, with them to face a team from League C in the first round and then either a fourth-placed League A team or a League B team in the second round.

Essentially, the outcome of Friday doesn't hinder their chances of qualifying for the World Cup too much; it just changes and prolongs the path to Brazil.

Those changes are not ideal for England, though, as the best-case scenario would be automatic qualification and the opportunity to organise friendlies of their liking in the final two international breaks of the year.

In the build-up to the 2023 tournament, ahead of their run to a first-ever final, the Lionesses faced the likes of the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia, while also playing the Finalissima against Brazil, allowing them to test themselves against a variety of worldwide opposition, taking them out of their European bubble.

That will have to be put on hold until the New Year. For now, the Lionesses will instead have to come up against sides they are either used to, or heavily favoured to beat, or both. There's minimal opportunity to learn between now and the end of the year.

That's a blow, because Wiegman is clearly eager to get to the bottom of what happened against Spain on Friday.

"What I'm trying to do now is think, what caused this?" she pondered after the defeat. "We have to see what went really wrong."

Of course, the England staff can analyse the game and try to understand the issues in hindsight, but to put the Lionesses back out there against elite opposition as soon as possible would be good testing ground to further delve into the problems, even if it wouldn't be in a competitive setting.

There are issues in defence in particular to scrutinise, but England will not be tested in quite the same ways in the play-offs as they were against Spain. Whoever the Lionesses come up against, they will be expected to dominate possession, with threats to come largely on the counter. That's not the same as being under the cosh and having to figure out how to withstand swathes of attack from one of the world's best sides.

The play-offs will still throw up competitive and extremely important games, too, meaning there is also minimal opportunity to experiment and rotate, unless England were to establish a truly unassailable lead in the first leg of one of those ties.

There is, of course, a lot of experience in this England team, with so many of them part of the squad that won the European Championship last summer. But there are also a lot of players with limited exposure to the international stage.

When the Lionesses played a series of friendlies at the end of 2025, it allowed someone like Lucia Kendall, who started the win over Spain at Wembley, to emerge, while giving opportunities to a player like Taylor Hinds, who plays a position of need at left-back. Wiegman may struggle to hand out those sorts of chances in must-win settings.

In the New Year, when England will have the opportunity to organise those friendlies, attention will likely be more on preparing for the looming World Cup, should qualification be secured as anticipated. There might be a couple of chances to really experiment, especially in earlier games, but the closer the tournament gets, the less likely it becomes.

Of course, it's not all negative. Defeat on Friday could prove to be an important learning point for England that helps them in the long-term. As Lauren Hemp said on Monday: “I think in games like that you probably learn the most.” And the Lionesses don’t have many games like that.

Spain have threatened to dominate some previous encounters as they did on Friday, only to find their final product lacking in tighter games which, in recent times, England have won more often than not. While results are the most important thing at the end of the day, they have occasionally papered over some of the cracks in Wiegman's side, those that were exposed to the full in Mallorca.

The play-offs will also have some benefits. The Lionesses do not play that many away games, only those necessary in qualifiers, a point which was raised after defeat on Friday. Friendlies are usually organised on home soil, with it not since early 2024 that they played one elsewhere, and even that was on neutral territory. England's last non-competitive game in which the opposition played the role of hosts was April 2021. More exposure to those experiences, through two away games in the play-offs, is not a bad thing.

And there is the chance of some very competitive games against good teams, too. League C opposition should not be a problem in the first round. but there are potential opponents in the second round who could pose a threat which, again, would not be a negative, granted the Lionesses still came through victorious.

While England are preparing for those play-off ties, though, Spain, the reigning world champions and one of the Lionesses' biggest rivals for the trophy, will be lining up games against the best international sides in the game and worldly opposition, to get ready for some of the more unfamiliar teams the World Cup is likely to pit them against.

Japan, who sealed their place at the tournament by winning the Asian Cup in March, will be doing similar, as will Germany, after victory over Norway crowned them as group winners on Friday night, and likely France, who are in pole position to top Group A2 ahead of Tuesday's games. Meanwhile, the United States have been in that phase for several months now, with games played against Japan, Colombia, Brazil, the Netherlands and many more since their Olympic triumph in the summer of 2024.

England, then, are at a disadvantage right now when compared to many of the other main contenders for that World Cup trophy. It's up to the Lionesses to make the best out of a situation that is not ideal and to ensure they get everything out of, first, the play-offs and, then, the first few months of next year, when they will get their chance to start cherry-picking opponents.

For now, focus will be on Ukraine on Tuesday and producing a response to Friday's defeat. There's still a chance of automatic qualification, but it is very small. Instead, the priority must be on putting things right and going into the play-offs in a good place, ready to navigate a different path in the best way possible and prove that, despite this low, England remain serious contenders for the 2027 Women's World Cup.