England v Iceland
FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 Qualifier
12.30pm GMT, Saturday 7 March 2026
The City Ground, Nottingham

Sarina Wiegman and Alessia Russo addressed the media from The City Ground ahead of Saturday’s game in Nottingham.

Here is what they had to say.

Wiegman on injury updates:

Not everyone’s available. Unfortunately, Alex [Greenwood] didn’t make it. As we said, she has a minor muscle injury but it’s too early tomorrow. She was already desperate to go out last Tuesday and also for tomorrow, so of course, we all tried to make it work but it’s just too early and it’s not worth taking a massive risk on that.

On the test she’s expecting from Iceland:

I think a very strong test. I think they’re very disciplined, they’re very physical, a very direct team with a lot of pace. We’ve seen some earlier but also against Spain, so very tough. We think we will have the ball a lot but I think it’s going to be very hard to break down their defence. Although we do think we’ll have the ball a lot, they do have some very dangerous attacks with also their directness and they’re just tough to beat. We’re really getting ready for it and we have to be at our top level to win that game.

On managing players’ minutes:

I think it’s part of my task to select the players that I think are best to play for England at this moment. We selected 25 players also because we want to see players and also because of this reason. We know we can only have 23 in the squad when we go into a game. You want to perform at the highest level, you want to manage players too and we also know that football is a physical game, so things can happen. But I also know that the players are ready to go, to start or to come on the pitch and with some, I have to make some decisions together with staff to manage some minutes too.

On Grace Clinton:

What she can control is her own development and taking responsibility for her development and that’s what she’s doing, so she’s working really hard. She’s in the part of her journey where she really needs the minutes and what can she do to make that chance of making it possible and what she can control. She shows on the pitch that she’s really working hard and off the pitch, we have these conversations. She responded really well because she wants to improve and she wants to show what she can do.

On sticking to the gameplan:

That’s very important. I think that’s what we showed on Tuesday. Of course, we wanted to score goals in the first half and we had some opportunities, although not so good as we did the second half but the team showed that we can do better. We stuck with the plan and everyone kept doing their task together. That’s key in those moments. We stay calm, we kept doing our task, while there is also some freedom up front to take your actions but also you could see that in defending transition, in moments that we lost the ball, we won it back so quickly and that says a lot about this mentality and the team.

We're LIVE with @alessiarusso7 and Sarina Wiegman to look forward to tomorrow's game against Iceland at @NFFC! 🎙️ https://t.co/oKly960dEf

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) March 6, 2026

Russo on the Ukraine win:

I think it was a game of two halves, although after the first half, we were still happy with how we were playing. We wanted to be a little bit more ruthless and we were aware of that but I think the conversations at half time were that we were dominating the ball and now we just needed to create that final pass or that final finish. I think going out into the second half, we saw that in abundance. Everyone’s in a good place and confident. People are loving playing for England and I think the second half really showed that.

On remaining patient:

I think it easy to get frustrated in those moments but like Sarina said, I think the messaging at half time and how we came out in the second half was really positive. In an ideal world, we’d love to score earlier but they defended really well, they put a lot of bodies behind the ball and they made it really difficult for us. Sometimes, you have to be patient and wait for the gaps to open up a little bit and maybe a bit of fatigue to kick in and making sure when that does happen, we’re there to capitalise on those moments.

On making the scoresheet:

I love scoring and I love playing for England, so when you get to do them both, it’s incredible. I think for me and every player in the team, we’ll say that we’re really focused on winning every game that we go into. Whether I can contribute with a goal or even just a good performance, then I’m happy with that. Ultimately, I am a striker, so I love to score and I love to be involved with the goals as much as possible.

On her positioning:

I feel like I understand the game a lot more and as I grow up, I have learnt a lot about myself and my playing style. I’ll play wherever the team needs me in that moment. I think both positions offer different things and I’m happy to do whatever the team needs. Ultimately, I want to be in and around the box, creating, scoring myself or setting other people up. I don’t mind it – I think it adds to my knowledge of the game and helps me become a better player.

On Jess Park:

She’s having an incredible season, both at club and internationally. She is a player that has grown a lot. When she first came in, probably similar to how I was when you first come into the England environment, it’s tough and you want to impress but you’re maybe struggling with confidence and different things like that but as you grow and Sarina instils in us to play with this freedom and this confidence, you’re seeing that coming out massively now. She’s got so many different strengths and she can score some great goals as well. I love playing with her and I think she’s been brilliant this year.

Iceland in profile

Nickname: Our Girls
Coach: Þorsteinn Halldórsson
Captain: Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir
Last encounter: England 0-2 Iceland, 16 July 2009

Match Stats

● England went unbeaten in each of their first nine meetings with Iceland across all competitions (W8 D1), but did lose their most recent, 2-0 at home in a friendly in July 2009.

● Iceland have lost all three of their competitive away games against England, with their last trip to face the Lionesses coming in the second leg of their 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying playoff semi-final, losing 1-0 in Birmingham with Amanda Barr scoring the sole goal of the game.

● This will be England’s first game in Nottingham since a 1-0 friendly win over Brazil at Meadow Lane in October 2018, while it will be their second ever match at the City Ground after a 6-0 win in UEFA EURO qualifying in March 1994.

● Iceland have won each of their last four competitive fixtures against the Home Nations, beating Northern Ireland home and away in the 2025 UEFA Women’s Nations League and Wales home and away in the 2023-24 UEFA Women’s Nations League.

● England are unbeaten in each of their last 23 FIFA World Cup qualifying home matches, winning 21 of those and not conceding a single goal (D2); the last goal they did concede in such a game came in October 2002 against France, in a 1-0 play-off final loss.

● Iceland lost their final two FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying matches ahead of the 2023 tournament (0-1 vs Netherlands, 1-4 vs Portugal) and their first of this campaign (0-3 vs Spain), now their longest ever run of defeats in qualifiers.

● England average just under eight goals per game in FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying matches under Sarina Wiegman (7.8 – 86 in eleven games), which is the highest rate any Lionesses manager has managed in a specific competition type.

● Alessia Russo has scored in each of her last three international appearances, her longest scoring run for England. The last Arsenal player to net in four consecutive outings for the Lionesses was Kelly Smith between September 2008 and February 2009.

● Among the Iceland team on MD1 of FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 qualifying against Spain, Sveindís Jónsdóttir attempted the most dribbles (four), won possession the most times (six) and created the joint-most chances (one). The Angel City forward did however complete just two of eight passes in 90 minutes of action.

● Lotte Wubben-Moy completed 125 of her 131 attempted passes last time out for England against Ukraine, the most by a player for the Lionesses since Millie Bright (145) and Alex Greenwood (125) against China at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

England women squad news

Ticket Information for England women v Iceland

How to watch or stream England women v Iceland

This game will be shown live in the UK on ITV's platforms. 

Sarina Wiegman has named her team to face Iceland in Nottingham this afternoon.

The Lionesses’ third most capped player, Lucy Bronze, makes her 145th senior appearance.

England: 1 Hannah Hampton, 2 Lucy Bronze, 3 Taylor Hinds, 4 Keira Walsh, 5 Leah Williamson (C), 6 Esme Morgan, 7 Lauren James, 8 Georgia Stanway, 9 Alessia Russo, 10 Jess Park, 11 Lauren Hemp

Substitutes: 12 Maya Le Tissier, 13 Anna Moorhouse, 14 Lucia Kendall, 15 Lotte Wubben-Moy, 16 Poppy Pattinson, 17 Chloe Kelly, 18 Grace Clinton, 19 Aggie Beever-Jones, 20 Laura Blindkilde Brown, 21 Ellie Roebuck, 22 Jess Carter, 23 Freya Godfrey