Knowing just one team from their group qualifies automatically for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, England needed to make their superiority count.
World champions Spain await them in April, with many expecting the two sides to go head-to-head for the top spot in their qualifying group.
So when England went into the half-time break on Tuesday at 0-0 against a Ukraine side 30 places below them in Fifa’s rankings, fans could be forgiven for anxiety.
But the two-time European champions found their ruthless streak in the second half, netting six goals to win 6-1, setting their campaign off in perfect fashion.
‘They didn’t figure it out in first half’
It was a new-look England as Wiegman is managing the return of several key players from injury, while rewarding those in form.
Manchester City’s Laura Blindkilde Brown was handed a rare start, while London City Lionesses defender Poppy Pattinson made her debut in the second half.
The back four in the starting XI had fewer than 100 caps combined – with captain Leah Williamson earning 65 of them – as Maya Le Tissier was at right-back over Lucy Bronze, while Taylor Hinds started her third game in four matches at left-back.
In-form Jess Park was playing out wide, as she has done for Manchester United so impressively this season, rather than in midfield where Wiegman has often used her.
It was uncharacteristically experimental from Wiegman considering this was their first competitive fixture since Euro 2025 and it took time to take shape.
England had 40 touches in the opposition box and 85% of the possession in the first half, but failed to score from their 15 efforts on goal.
The tempo had dropped, Ukraine were defending well and England’s hopes of flying out of the blocks had not materialised.
“They didn’t quite figure it out in the first half. They were a little bit stunned about what to do,” ex-England midfielder Fran Kirby told BBC Radio 5 Live Extra.
“Ukraine defended really well. They were really tight between the lines and they made it very difficult for England.
“They needed to have a little bit more composure in the box instead of crossing it for the sake of crossing it.
“The second half showed that they learned from the first half in terms of what wasn’t working.”
With a side stacked full of quality, the two-time European champions responded in the second half.
Arsenal striker Alessia Russo netted two goals in four minutes to put England in control, before a double from Georgia Stanway took them out of Ukraine’s reach.
Wiegman’s “clear win” was confirmed when Park also scored twice later on.
“I think it took us the first half to break them down. We were still very good in the first half. They were defensively solid,” said Russo afterwards.
“When the spaces opened, we took our chances. I wouldn’t say it was relief [when we scored]. We knew we had the quality in us and it was just executing it.
“It was finding the final moment, the final pass and the final shot. You saw that in the second half.”
How does victory set England up?
Tuesday’s match was played in Turkey, with Ukraine unable to host the fixture because of the ongoing war with Russia.
Ukraine’s players had to take a 15-hour coach journey to the Mardan Stadium for the game.
The Lionesses, back-to-back European champions, had recognised superstars in their squad, and went to the match as heavy favourites.
It was a fixture they simply had to win.
Rivals Spain did their part with a 3-0 win over Iceland and they will be expected to get maximum points against weaker opposition in their upcoming fixtures.
If the Lionesses hope to keep up with the defending world champions, and give themselves a chance of earning automatic qualification, they need to beat Ukraine and Iceland, and do it convincingly.
It could come down to goal difference to separate England and Spain, though there is a lot of football still to be played before then.
It was a message Wiegman made subtly before the match – that England needed to be ruthless.
“It is very important, of course, we know the group. For ourselves, we want to play a very good game and we want to get a clear win which gives us a good starting position going into the next game against Iceland,” she said before kick-off.
April’s first showdown against Spain at Wembley is likely to be hugely significant. It will be a repeat of the Women’s World Cup final in 2023 – where Spain beat England – and the Euro 2025 final, where the Lionesses got their revenge.
And that is clearly on the players’ minds with England midfielder Georgia Stanway “very disappointed” to have conceded against Ukraine, impacting the goal difference.
“We’ll look back and see what the mistake was,” she said. “Potentially it was me. I needed to track her but I need to watch it back. Overall, it was a solid start.”
England top the table with a two-goal advantage over Spain heading into Saturday’s game against Iceland at Nottingham’s City Ground (12:30 GMT) and will hope to take a big leap forward when they face their rivals in April.-BBC
