Big scorelines, one-sided games - are Women's World Cup play-offs working?
The ease in which England saw off Greece in round one of the Women's World Cup qualifying play-offs showed just how inefficient the structure currently is.
Key points
- England beat Greece 8-1 on aggregate in the Women's World Cup qualifying play-offs.
- Other top European nations also won emphatically against lower-ranked teams in the play-offs.
- England manager Sarina Wiegman said Uefa will review the qualification process.
- England will face Ukraine in another two-legged tie in December.
England's 8-1 aggregate win over Greece in the Women's World Cup qualifying play-offs has highlighted the inefficiency of the current qualification structure. Greece, ranked 55 places below England, had little chance in the two-legged tie despite a respectable 3-1 home defeat.
The result was not an isolated case. Other top European nations that dropped into the play-offs also recorded heavy victories against lower-ranked opposition, raising questions about whether Uefa should review the process.
Why the play-offs are so one-sided
Only one team from each league phase group received automatic qualification. The Netherlands, who finished second behind France, beat Hungary 11-0 on aggregate. Norway, who lost out to Germany, defeated Romania 8-0. Sweden and the Republic of Ireland thrashed their opponents 15-0 and 12-0 respectively.
England, drawn in the same group as world champions Spain, also dropped into the play-offs and faced League C opposition. Their 8-1 win over Greece was another example of the mismatch.
Of course we wanted to qualify straight away, that's not the case
— Sarina Wiegman
What Wiegman said
England manager Sarina Wiegman was asked about the qualification process after Tuesday's match. "Of course we wanted to qualify straight away, that's not the case," she said. "Uefa will review how things are set up and see whether they think it works or it should be better, or different. I don't think it's my place now to review that."
England still have another two-legged tie against Ukraine, with the first leg away on 1 December and the return at Wembley Stadium on 5 December. England already beat Ukraine twice in the league phase by an aggregate score of 9-1.
