Alessia Russo's brace leads England to World Cup qualifying victory over Ukraine

With a burst of second‑half strikes, England opened their Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign with a 6‑1 win over Ukraine. Alessia Russo, Georgia Stanway and Jess Park each found the net twice.

The European champions might feel the result should have been larger: they were careless in the opening half, but eventually let loose as Park kept up her impressive Manchester United display.

The fixture took place on neutral ground in Antalya, Turkey, due to the conflict in Ukraine, and the stadium held no more than about 250 spectators, including roughly 100 English supporters. Coach Sarina Wiegman said on Monday that the Lionesses had received guarantees from the UK government about their safety in Turkey, while they remained in close contact with officials and were watching the unfolding war in the Middle East.

England looked concentrated and circulated the ball swiftly to control the match. Ukraine sat deep from the first whistle, leaving England dominant but inefficient in front of goal. They commanded 80 % of the first‑half possession and recorded 40 touches inside the opposition’s penalty area before the break, yet they did not break the dead‑lock until the second half.

Six minutes after the restart Russo put England two ahead, but a poor defensive set‑piece allowed Ukraine to equalise through Yana Kalinina. Stanway then restored the two‑goal margin from the spot and smashed a shot into the top corner to make it 4‑1. She later slipped a low pass to Park for the fifth, and Park finished with a curled effort that vindicated Wiegman’s decision to start her.

Russo, who had been lively all game, came close to a first‑half hat‑trick: a low strike was well saved, a free‑kick header sailed over the bar and another header was blocked, after Stanway’s driven effort was saved and Laura Blindkilde Brown’s attempt rebounded off the underside of the crossbar.

Arsenal teammate Lotte Wubben‑Moy started after Alex Greenwood suffered a “minor muscle injury”; she nearly opened the scoring with a close‑range back‑heel that was cleared on the line. Soon after, Lauren Hemp burst through the centre of the defence but her right‑footed shot drifted wide of the post.

At the interval, Wiegman handed a senior international debut to left‑back Poppy Pattinson, replacing Taylor Hinds. Captain Leah Williamson, who had not featured since the Euro 2025 final, was rested to manage her minutes and was swapped for Esme Morgan. Wiegman also reshuffled the wide players, moving Hemp to the right and Jess Park to the left, a change that paid dividends. Russo collected a pass from Walsh, turned inside and slotted home the opener, before Hemp cut inside on her left foot to deliver a low cross for Russo’s second.

Georgia Stanway’s brace lifted her to ninth on the Lionesses’ all‑time scoring list with 31 goals, overtaking Marieanne Spacey‑Cale’s 30.