England suffer heaviest defeat in 17 years, World Cup hopes slip

England’s path to the 2027 Women’s World Cup suddenly looks far less direct after Spain delivered a 4-0 defeat in Mallorca, a result that left Sarina Wiegman’s side needing help as well as points. A draw or win would have sealed automatic qualification, but England now trail Spain on head-to-head after both teams finished on 12 points from five games.

Patri Guijarro opened the scoring, Alexia Putellas struck twice and Clàudia Pina added the fourth at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix, completing England’s heaviest defeat under Wiegman and their worst loss since the Euro 2009 final, when Germany won 6-2. The margin underlined how thoroughly Spain controlled the contest and how quickly England lost any grip on the group when they could least afford it.

Wiegman said the defeat “hurt” and admitted England were “disappointing” and “just didn’t play good enough.” She said Spain were “a lot better” and pointed to England’s inability to keep the ball, break the press and play into pockets or behind Spain’s defence. Fran Kirby, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, said England looked “deflated” at full-time and that the performance hurt to watch.

The tactical failure was as damaging as the scoreline. England had gone into the match with a clear chance to settle qualification, but Spain exposed their difficulty under pressure and turned every lost duel into sustained control. The reigning European champions were unable to build from the back with enough precision, and the forward line never found a consistent way to stretch Spain’s defence or create the kind of clean openings England had managed in the reverse fixture at Wembley.

That 1-0 win on 14 April 2026, sealed by Lauren Hemp’s third-minute goal, had ended Spain’s 31-match unbeaten run in Women’s World Cup qualifying and their sequence of 22 straight wins. It now reads like a missed chance to establish control in the group. Instead, England return home knowing victory against Ukraine in their final qualifier on Tuesday at 20:00 BST will only matter if Spain drop points away to Iceland at the same time. Otherwise, Wiegman’s team will be pushed into two play-off rounds in the autumn, with their route to Brazil suddenly much more complicated.