England beat Iceland in World Cup qualifier thanks to Bronze and Stanway
England beat Iceland in World Cup qualifier thanks to Bronze and Stanway
England secured back-to-back wins in their Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign as goals from Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway sealed a 2-0 victory over Iceland.
Bronze marked a personal milestone with the opening goal after earning her 145th cap for the Lionesses.
The appearance moves the defender up to third in the nation’s all-time rankings.
Sarina Wiegman’s side were dominant throughout at a sold-out City Ground but were forced to wait to make the game safe.
Lionesses lack clinical edge
The hosts controlled the tempo from the first whistle in Nottingham.
Despite enjoying the majority of possession, England held only a slender 1-0 lead at the interval.
The European champions registered 31 shots during the contest but struggled to replicate the ruthlessness shown in their six-goal demolition of Ukraine just four days earlier.
That lack of a clinical edge almost allowed the visitors a route back into the match.
Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton was called into action on the hour mark to deny Sandra Jessen from equalising.
It was Iceland’s only shot of the entire game but served as a warning to the dominant home side.
Stanway secures the points
The tension was finally lifted when Stanway doubled the advantage.
The Bayern Munich midfielder fired home her 32nd international goal to ensure the result matched the performance.
Victory means England maintain a 100% start to their qualifying campaign.
