England’s Lionesses delivered a dominant performance, cruising to a 5-0 victory over Belgium in their UEFA Women’s Nations League match on Friday. First-half headers from Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright set the tone for the comfortable win in Bristol. Youngsters Aggie Beever-Jones and Keira Walsh celebrated their maiden England goals, while substitute Jess Park also found the net, contributing to the resounding scoreline.
England manager Sarina Wiegman emphasized the importance of each game, not only for their European Championship title defense but also for securing the best possible position in the upcoming World Cup draw. The two sides are set to meet again next Tuesday in Leuven.
In Group A3, World Cup champions Spain secured a 4-2 win over Portugal, moving to second place, just one point behind England.
Meanwhile, Germany were in ruthless form as they hammered Scotland 4-0 at Dundee’s Tannadice Park. Elisa Senss opened the scoring for the Germans in the very first minute with a stunning strike. Despite a good response from the hosts, a Sophie Howard own goal for Scotland shifted the momentum firmly in Germany’s favor. Cora Zicai and Lea Schuller completed Scotland’s miserable night with further goals. Scotland will have a chance to respond when they face Germany again in Wolfsburg on Tuesday.
Germany now lead their group on goal difference ahead of the Netherlands, who secured a 3-1 victory over Austria. Veteran midfielder Sherida Spitse made history in that match, becoming the joint most capped European player of all time.
Elsewhere, France, who were beaten finalists in last year’s Nations League, secured a 2-0 away win against Women’s Euro 2025 hosts Switzerland in St Gallen. Sandy Baltimore opened the scoring, and a powerful long-range strike from Selma Bacha sealed the win for France, who now sit five points clear at the top of their group ahead of their clash with Norway in Oslo on Tuesday.
The four League A group winners will advance to the Nations League finals in the autumn. The group standings will also determine the promotion and relegation matches that will establish the starting league positions for the European Qualifiers for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, which will run throughout 2026.
