Lauren James is fit to play in England’s World Cup qualifier as the Lionesses reignite their rivalry with Spain in a bid to reach the tournament in 2027.
England sit top of Group A3 after four matches, having won all four and conceded just one goal.
Next up is their penultimate qualifier against Sonia Bermudez’s Spain, who are second and three points behind the Lionesses.
Avoiding defeat in Mallorca would see the Lionesses establish an unassailable lead and head into the final game against Ukraine at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on June 9 having qualified for next summer’s tournament in Brazil more than one year early.
Speaking in a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Wiegman said: “We approach the game as we want to win the game. We will go out there tomorrow to win the game.
“We’re in a good position. We just really want to qualify as quick as possible. We want to top the group.
“It’s a hard group, it’s a difficult game. It’s the same for Spain, it’s a difficult game for them, too. And it just helps [to qualify early] because you have time then to prepare.”
“We know what the consequences are so, no matter what happens, we have another opportunity [in the play-offs if they finish second], but we go out there to play and win.”
Lauren Hemp’s early goal sealed a 1-0 win for the Lionesses in the last meeting in April
England beat Spain 1-0 at Wembley in April and have won three of the four meetings since the 2023 World Cup final defeat in Sydney.
“We know each other really well, so we know what type of players Spain have,” Wiegman added.
“But they have more than 11 players that are really good and they have different options in different positions. We just try to prepare for everything that will come in front of us tomorrow.
“Challenging games always bring the best out of us. We have challenges in every single game. We want to be at our best all the time.
“We want to improve on the last game we played against Spain. We want to improve every single time we have played a game and take out those things we think we can improve on. That’s no different to other games we play.”
Wiegman confirmed all the players in here squad are “fit and ready to play” and spoke briefly about Leah Williamson, Ella Toone and James.
Leah Williamson misses out on the squad through injury
“Of course it’s disappointing that she [Williamson] is injured, first of all for her, but also for us.
“At the same time, we moved on quickly because we have to play with the team we have and I think we have a very good team. We’ve done this before, a squad without Leah, so I’m comfortable with that.
“She [Toone] has trained very hard to come back. We have a lot of good midfielders and she brings something different. It’s really good to have that option in our team. She’s ready to go and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.
“She [James] has been good. Had a little bit of recovery after that moment at the weekend [in the World Sevens], but could go back in training very quickly. That’s positive.”
The 10th edition of the Women’s World Cup takes place in Brazil between June 24 and July 25 2027.
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