Georgia Stanway proves her class while Leah Williamson nears full fitness - but Grace Clinton and Maya Le Tissier's Lionesses roles remain in limbo: Winners and losers from England's opening Women's World Cup qualifying wins

What a week this was for Georgia Stanway. As her protracted move to Arsenal looms, the midfielder showed just why she will be an elite signing for the Gunners with three goals in two games to help fire the Lionesses to a perfect start to their World Cup qualifying campaign.

The variety of goals Stanway scored was particularly impressive. There was a composed penalty, her 14th successful one out of 14 in an England shirt, which helped her team re-establish a comfortable lead over Ukraine, before the spectacular completion of her brace, as the 27-year-old rocketed a shot into the top corner.

Stanway's strike against Iceland on Saturday, though, may have been the pick of the lot. Meeting a Lucy Bronze cross just before it hit the ground, the technique on her sweet, sweet volley was impeccable, ensuring all three points at the City Ground.

Stanway didn't really have much to prove this week. She's been a mainstay in midfield for England for years now and is one of the first names on the teamsheet. But she reminded everyone why that is the case while also creeping up the list of record goal-scorers for the Lionesses. She is now eighth in the list on 32, just one behind both Karen Carney and Eni Aluko. With plenty of years ahead of her, Stanway could yet charge well up towards the top.

Jess Park was one of the most interesting figures in this England team coming into their first camp of 2026. On fire for Manchester United following a shock summer switch from Manchester City, the 24-year-old has been thriving in a free-roaming wide role that has allowed her to drift into whichever pockets of space appear. It has suited her creativity to a tee and resulted in what is already the most productive season, in terms of goals and assists, of her career.

But how would that translate to England level? Would Park be put in a position where she had similar freedom? Or would that have to be confined a little bit more in international football? The Lionesses were heavy favourites for both games, sure, but the lively forward was given the opportunity to express herself in two starts, as she did plenty to make in-roads on the England starting line-up.

Park started the game against Ukraine on the wing but was allowed to move around freely and she showed her quality with two very different goals - one a simple tap-in after good off-ball movement and the other a gorgeous strike that flew in over the head of the goalkeeper. She was quieter against Iceland, but that felt more down to the fact that England were having so much joy out wide and, as a result, not playing so much through the middle.

Ella Toone will come back into this squad soon, as will Beth Mead, two players who were injured this time around but who have often started ahead of Park in the international breaks. However, the United star staked her claim when given the opportunity this week and will hope she has done enough to be in from the start against Spain next time out.

This season really hasn’t gone to plan for Grace Clinton. After enjoying a breakout season while on loan at Tottenham to earn her first England caps, then backing that up with a brilliant campaign back with parent club Manchester United, the young midfielder was sent to Manchester City in the summer, with Park moving the other way. While Park has thrived since the move and stood out as one of the most in-form attackers in Europe, Clinton has struggled to even get on the pitch for large parts.

Some of that has been down to injury. The 22-year-old had a niggle when she arrived on the blue side of Manchester and so that slowed her start with the club, then a knock in October kept her out of England’s first games post-Euro 2025. But she’s been fit since then and still struggled to break into City’s league-leading side, making just two starts in the Women’s Super League this season.

It’s now having a knock-on effect with the Lionesses. Though called up for the 25-player camp this month, Clinton was left out of the 23-player matchday squad against Ukraine on Tuesday and then didn't get any minutes against Iceland on Saturday, with Wiegman noting her lack of game time when speaking with the media before the latter fixture.

"She can't really control it. What she can control is her own development and taking responsibility for her development, and that's what she's doing," Wiegman said. "She’s working really hard and we have these conversations because, of course, for me, she's in a part of her journey where she really needs the minutes.

"She’s responded really well. We also had that conversation last camp, because at that point she came back from injury and didn't get that many minutes. We have conversations all the time and so far she has responded really well because she wants to improve and she wants to show what she can do, of course."

It’s not an easy position for Clinton to be in, especially with City’s number of games limited this year due to a lack of European football, and competition for her place in the England squad particularly high.

The good news is that this isn’t a major tournament year, meaning there’s not going to be some hugely devastating impact of that lack of game time right now. It’s very plausible that the picture is entirely different next season, when City have a fuller calendar and Clinton has more chances to state her case.

But it is frustrating, and this talented young player is missing out on minutes at a vital point in her career, something she’ll hope she can make up for in due course.

It was odd to many that Laura Blindkilde Brown got so few minutes in the four friendlies that followed England's Euro 2025 triumph. The 22-year-old has been an absolute revelation at Man City this season, starting 14 of the league leaders' 16 WSL outings to stand out as one of the best midfielders in the division this year. But both Kendall and Missy Bo Kearns got starts ahead of her in the Lionesses' final games of 2025, with Blindkilde Brown only making one substitute appearance in those four matches.

Her start in the win over Ukraine on Tuesday, then, felt long overdue. That's not just because of the youngster's recent form, but also because of how regularly she has been involved with the Lionesses over the last 18 months or so, and how few opportunities she has got despite that. That start was just her second for England, and brought about just her third cap.

Blindkilde Brown wasn't at her absolute best against Ukraine. She's largely played in what is almost a two-woman midfield with Yui Hasegawa at City this season, with Vivianne Miedema roaming freely ahead of the deeper-lying pair, who alternate between sitting deepest and pushing forward. On Tuesday, she was in the No.10 role, and playing against a stubborn low-block. It was also sometimes apparent how little she'd played with those around her, with them just not quite on the same page with off-ball movement.

But it was still a solid performance from Blindkilde Brown in which she showed glimpses of her quality and got through plenty of hard work. Given how few opportunities she has had in an England shirt, to get 90 minutes was a huge positive, as was the fact she earned another cap as a substitute against Iceland, doubling her appearance total for the Lionesses in just one week.

She should get plenty of feedback on how to progress from here, too, as she looks to increase her standing with the national team. 

The last time England fans saw Leah Williamson in action for the Lionesses was way back in the summer, when she was lifting the Euros trophy above her head for the second time in three years. The skipper was unable to be involved in her country's two camps after that tournament, owing to a knee issue picked up at the tournament, but this week, she was back in an England shirt for the first time in eight months - and she looked great.

Williamson only got back on the pitch for Arsenal on December 13 and she's slowly been rebuilding her match fitness from there, playing 90 minutes against Manchester United on January 10 before getting another full game under her belt just before this camp, in the FA Cup win over Bristol City.

Understandably, England didn't throw her back into things too quickly this week. Williamson played 45 minutes against Ukraine on Tuesday, and although the Lionesses didn't score while she was on the pitch, some of the passes she played out from the back to try to help them break the deadlock were excellent. She built on that against Iceland, this time playing a full 90, and the captain was even better, highlighting her importance to this team with an influential display.

For Williamson to get that game time under her belt, and look as good as she did while doing so, was extremely valuable, especially with some huge games coming up for both England and Arsenal, who are still in with a chance of defending their Champions League title, before the end of the season.

This time last year, Niamh Charles had the England left-back spot locked down. The Chelsea star began her career as a forward, shining as a winger or a No.10 with childhood club Liverpool, but would be adapted into a left-back after her move to London, suiting the needs of the Blues and, subsequently, England, who have lacked obvious options in the position throughout Wiegman’s four-and-a-half-year reign.

Charles started all of the Lionesses’ first four games in 2025, with her performance in the 1-0 win over Spain at Wembley underlining the reasons why Wiegman had followed in the footsteps of former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes and chosen to utilise her in a defensive role.

However, Wiegman was also experimenting with other ideas going into Euro 2025, looking at how to get a left-footer in that position while also assessing other options generally after Charles had seen a drop off in game time that could’ve caused problems. She looked at deploying Alex Greenwood, formerly a left-back, and Jess Carter, capable of playing any position in defence, on the left-hand side of defence so that they could interchange when needed, switching between the left centre-back and left-back roles. 

Euro 2025 eventually ended with Greenwood playing a more auxiliary full-back role, and while it did help England emerge victorious, it felt like a stop-gap solution. Greenwood is at her best as a centre-back, after all. 

As a result, Wiegman has called up a whole host of new left-back options since the Euros. Taylor Hinds, who joined Arsenal from Liverpool in the summer, switched her allegiance back from Jamaica; Anouk Denton, capable of playing full-back or wing-back on either side, has had opportunities; and Poppy Pattinson is the latest to get a chance, debuting in the win over Ukraine.

Suddenly, Wiegman has options, and natural ones, too, who are left-footed. Where does that leave Charles? This was her place to lose but now she has plenty of competition emerging. None have properly nailed down the spot yet, but Charles, who hasn’t played since December due to injury, has a point to prove when she gets back fit.

Ellie Roebuck was a winner from this camp the second the squad was announced two-and-a-half weeks ago. The 26-year-old was a staple in the Lionesses squad for many years and part of the group that won Euro 2022 and reached the 2023 Women's World Cup final. However, she would suffer a type of stroke just a few months after the latter tournament, one which left her wondering if she would ever even play football again.

Roebuck got back on the pitch with Barcelona during the 2024-25 season but was only playing sparingly, meaning no England recall came. Then, in the summer, she joined Aston Villa and, in recent weeks, she's winning the battle to be the club's No.1, starting ahead of Canada international Sabrina D'Angelo and enjoying her first taste of regular minutes since the 2022-23 season.

It has paved the way for a proper England return. Roebuck was brought in as an injury replacement back in November for her first involvement with the Lionesses in two years, and she earned a full call-up for this camp, with Khiara Keating dropping into the Under-23s amid a lack of minutes at Man City.

After everything she's been through, it's just great to see Roebuck, now England's second most-capped goalkeeper behind Hannah Hampton, back in the fold. And with the contrasting situations she and Keating are in, she also has a fantastic opportunity to stay in the frame.

England's camps at the back end of 2025 were huge for Le Tissier. Long seen as a right-back in Wiegman's eyes, despite being one of the best centre-backs in the WSL, the Manchester United captain got a whole host of opportunities in her preferred role in the post-Euros friendlies, starting three at centre-back while moving into that position midway through the fourth. For a player who had just eight caps before those games, to start all four was also a real positive, with her case to be considered prime among Wiegman's centre-back options clearly made.

This month, then, was a bit of a setback in that regard. Le Tissier started the game against Ukraine and played well, but she was out in a right-back role. Then, for the hosting of Iceland, she was an unused sub, with Esme Morgan, who is out of season ahead of the league in the U.S. kicking off next week, chosen ahead of her as a centre-back option.

There were so many injuries that England had to deal with after the Euros. In terms of centre-backs, Williamson, Greenwood and Lotte Wubben-Moy all dealt with issues, teenager Katie Reid suffered an ACL injury just days after winning a first senior call-up and Carter was granted a period of rest after a demanding year for club and country. Those helped pave the way for Le Tissier to make her mark centrally. This week, though, was a bit of a reminder that when everyone is fit, the United skipper falls right down the centre-back pecking order once more.