Wiegman targets early Lionesses qualification against Spain

Sarina Wiegman's pre-match quotes

How she’s feeling ahead of the game:

"We had a good day's travel yesterday. The pitch is good. It’s warm here but we play at 9pm tomorrow – it’s not too bad. We’re actually enjoying it."

On aiming for qualification against Spain:

"That’s what we want. That’s what we’re going out for tomorrow. We’re in a good position and we’re ready for tomorrow. We just really want to qualify as quick as possible. It’s a hard group. It’s a difficult game tomorrow. That’s the same for Spain – it’s a difficult game for them, too. It just helps because you have time then to prepare and we know what the consequences are. No matter what happens, then we have another opportunity but we’re going out there to play and win."

The challenge from Spain:

"I think 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 and if you bring it back to Spain tomorrow, we just want to improve on the last game we played against them. We want to improve every single time we play the game and take out those things that we think we can improve on. That’s no different than other games we played."

Ella Toone’s fitness: 

"She’s trained very hard to come back. It’s good because I think we have a lot of good midfielders. She also brings something different – we know that. It’s really good to have that option in our team and she’s ready to go, just as everyone else. We’ll see what tomorrow brings." 

Lauren James’ fitness: 

"She has been good. She had a little bit of recovery after that moment in the weekend [her World Sevens injury] but she could go back in training very quickly, so that’s positive."

Lucy Bronze's pre-match quotes

On her own fitness:

"Pretty good. I’ve been injured many times in my career, so I know how to stay fit, keep fit, be focused on the game and always be ready to go in an England shirt or my team whenever, so I feel good."

A tough game:

"I think we respect all the teams that are in our group. I think we just focus on qualifying ahead of everyone, whoever it is. We know Spain are a really good team but the start of this campaign, it was always about qualifying as soon as possible, whoever was picked in our group and that’s still the goal tomorrow, today and for the rest of the week."

Upping their game:

"I just think the players that you play against challenge you more, so you’re put in more difficult positions. You have to think faster, you have to play faster – the quality of the opposition does dictate, especially as a defender, how you get to play and the spaces that they leave. You maybe have to work a little bit harder but especially when the girls are playing for England, we all try so hard because we absolutely adore playing for England, we never take any game for granted. But I definitely think playing against a team like Spain, you have to be at your best if we want to get the result we want and we want to qualify."

Ukraine tickets still on sale

A win or draw against Spain would see the Lionesses book their place at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027. England's final qualifier comes against Ukraine at Everton's Hill-Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool on Tuesday 9 June (8pm), with tickets remaining on sale.