Ruthless England thrashed Scotland 6 and 0 on Tuesday, but that was not enough to keep Team GB’s dreams of a Paris Olympic berth alive. Lucy Bronze scored a last-gasp goal for the Lionesses, who briefly celebrated, believing it was enough to win Group A1 and move into the Nations League semi-finals. Still, the Netherlands’ Damaris Egurrola netted twice in added time to clinch the top spot. It means the Lionesses must beat Belgium by three goals in their final match and hope the Dutch lose if they want to qualify for February’s play-offs and have any chance of appearing at the Olympics next summer.
England were on the front foot straight from kick-off, with Georgia Stanway’s effort going just wide of the target and Alex Greenwood firing in a header from a corner to open the scoring. Lauren James danced through the Scottish defense with a series of slick dribbles, teeing up Beth Mead, who made it two from two with her training ground finish and then giving her side a comfortable lead at half-time with a second from close range.
It was more of the same after the break, and Mead tapped in her third from close range, with Kirby then poking home from a Georgia Stanway cutback for the sixth. However, despite their dominance, it was not a clinical performance from England, with Lee Gibson letting a soft shot from the Netherlands forward Lineth Beerensteyn slip through her fingers in the closing stages.
England captain Rachel Corsie had a chance to salvage something for the hosts late on. Still, a defender deflected her effort over the bar, and the Lionesses will have to wait to secure their place in the play-offs unless they can beat the Netherlands by more than two goals at Wembley on Thursday.
Both sides paid their respects to Sheffield United goalkeeper Maddy Cusack before the game, with a minute’s silence observed before kick-off. And it was a fitting start to an evening where England will look back with regret at the missed opportunities that saw them miss out on their first Nations League final since 2012. Defeat in Brussels, combined with a win for the Netherlands, would have seen England through to the knockout stage and into the Olympics, but they can only hope that the Dutch aren’t quite as ruthless when they meet on Thursday. With the Lionesses in the ascendancy and the mighty Holland in the hunt, this has all the makings of a classic final-day drama.
