How England can still qualify for the Women's World Cup

How England can still qualify for the Women's World CupImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Dutchwoman Sarina Wiegman took over the England manager's job in 2021Published2 minutes agoA humbling defeat by fierce rivals Spain on Friday left England looking unlikely to seal automatic qualification through the group stage route for next summer's Women's World Cup in Brazil.The Lionesses would have won the group if they avoided defeat in Majorca after beating the world champions 1-0 at Wembley in April.However, Spain were commanding winners, with the 4-0 result moving them level on points with England at the top of Group A, and above the European champions courtesy of a better head-to-head record.If Spain beat Iceland on Tuesday, they will clinch a spot in the World Cup, regardless of England's result at home to Ukraine at the same time [20:00 BST].But the loss against Spain is far from terminal for Sarina Wiegman's side.If England finish as runners-up in their qualifying group, they will enter the European play-offs, which are contested over two rounds of home-and-away ties.As a League A runner-up, England would be seeded in the first round and drawn against one of the League C group winners, or one of the two best-ranked League C runners-up, for example Hungary or Romania. England would host the second leg.However, winning that tie would not quite be enough to secure a place at the 2027 Women's World Cup.England would then need to progress through a second two-leg play-off round, with the successful teams booking tickets to the finals in Brazil.The draws for both play-off rounds are scheduled to take place on 18 June 2026, with matches to be played in October and then in late November and early December 2026.How the European World Cup qualifying groups standWhat else happened in the penultimate round of fixtures?Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are in League B and can only qualify for the World Cup via the European play-offs.S...