England v Spain
FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 Qualifier
7pm BST, Tuesday 14 April 2026
Wembley Stadium

Sarina Wiegman and Keira Walsh addressed the media at St. George's Park ahead of the game, with Walsh hoping to reach 100 caps for the Lionesses if selected.

You can watch a video of the press conference, and read all of Sarina's words in the official England app.

Sarina, you know what the first question is going to be…with one training session to go, how's the squad looking?

“Yeah, the squad is looking good. This morning everyone will be on the pitch and, of course, then we have some decisions to make.”

One of the big decisions is obviously around Leah Williamson. She hasn't played for a month. Is she ready to play tomorrow?

“Well, of course she's a question mark for tomorrow. She'll be on the pitch today and we'll make the decisions after this training session.”

What does she need to prove to have a chance to start?

“Well, I don't think she needs to prove that much. Of course, we balanced it and we've been really, really careful with her. She's careful, we're careful. We made a plan, she's good with this plan. I don't want to give anything more away about that, but she's moving forward well.”

This feels like a massive game. Is it one you're just really excited about?

“Yes, of course. You know, these are very competitive games. Of course, we are in the World Cup qualifiers so there's more than this game but you want to qualify for the World Cup. When you're playing at Wembley again, and I think there's about 75,000 tickets sold, and you play Spain within that atmosphere at home with the fans behind us, it's just really exciting.”

The world champions are coming to Wembley and only one of you is going to qualify automatically for the World Cup. Just as an occasion, how close does this game feel to being like a major tournament game in terms of magnitude?

“It just feels like a very competitive game and we have played so many games over the last couple of years against each other. I don't think about that, I just think we're playing qualifiers. We also see the bigger picture, we want to qualify for the World Cup and they want to qualify for the World Cup and we both, as well as the other teams in our group, want to qualify as quickly as possible.”

That would be nice too, but you know how big of a game this is?

“Yeah, of course, we both go out there to play and win, but you don't know because it's so competitive and that's how we approach what we do. What we're trying to do is get the best possible game plan and execute it in the best possible way tomorrow and hopefully that brings us success. Then we move on to the Iceland game, which is a big game again too with a short turnaround and travel.”

I appreciate you're not going to give your tactics away here, but when you're preparing for a team that is as strong as Spain, can you give us any sort of insight into what's different about your preparations for Spain compared to any other team?

“There's no difference. How we approach is, in fact, the same. We have the game plan meetings about what their strengths and weaknesses are. Then we have how we want to play and how we want to try and exploit the spaces that they leave and how we are trying to take their super strengths out. That's what we do with every game. And the only difference now is that in February had a type two window and we have a type two window again now, so we had a couple more days to prepare.”

Keira, how does it feel to be on the verge of being a centurion for in it?

“Yeah, I mean, obviously it's a very exciting moment. We don't know the team yet for sure, so just waiting to hear that but I think when I started playing football, I never thought that this was going to be possible. So it's a really proud moment for me and my family and just really excited.

“Obviously it's a massive game and we know what it means, we're playing against world-class opposition. So honestly, my full focus has been on that for the week. I've not really thought too much about anything else, but I'm sure after the game then I'll probably have some moments to reflect and I'm sure my teammates as well will probably speak about it.”

Is it one of those situations where you're really proud, but also you know there's going to be a lot of attention on you and what you've achieved and it's a bit awkward?

“Yeah, I don't really love the attention being on me, to be honest. I think that's why I probably tend to just focus on the game and try and forget everything else. I do feel a little bit awkward about it. I just love playing football, so for me, one or 100, I still feel the same whenever I put the shirt on. It still feels like the first time, I’m still as excited.

What has changed, do you think, since your first cap for England? I'd imagine it's been a long journey with lots of different changes along the way?

“I was actually speaking about this with some of the girls the other day. I remember my first cap, there was not a lot of people in the crowd. I think it was just against Kazakhstan and obviously tomorrow it's going to be 75,000 people, at Wembley, playing against one of the best teams in the world. I think that just shows the growth of the women's game and I think there's still some of us in the squad who have been a part of it when the women's game wasn't quite there. I can definitely feel that, from my first to my 100th cap. I think it's just exciting to see, yeah, where it's gone.”

Spain in profile

Nickname: La Roja
Coach: Sonia Bermúdez
Captain: Irene Paredes
Last encounter: England 1-1 Spain (3-1 on pens), 27 July 2025 

Match stats and facts

● England are unbeaten in all nine of their previous games against Spain played in England (W6 D3), most recently beating the reigning world champions 1-0 at Wembley in February 2025 in the UEFA Women’s Nations League.

● Spain have only won one of their eight qualifying matches for major tournaments against England (World Cup/EURO – D5 L2), a 2-1 win in September 1996 in a UEFA Women’s EURO qualification play-off match.

● England have lost just one of their last eleven games played at Wembley Stadium (W7 D3), winning each of their last three, and could win four consecutive matches at the national venue for the first time.

● Spain are unbeaten in each of their last 17 matches in all competitions (W15 D2 - excluding shootouts), since a 1-0 loss against England in February last year. It is their best run since going 24 games without defeat between March 2020 and July 2022.

● England remain unbeaten and haven’t conceded across their last 24 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying matches at home (W22 D2), since losing 1-0 to France in a play-off match in October 2002 at Selhurst Park.

● Spain are unbeaten in each of their last 31 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying matches - winning each of their last 22 - since a 1-0 loss to England at the New Den in April 2010.

● England have lost just one of their last 49 games in all competitions when leading at half-time (W43 D5), with the exception a 2-1 loss to Spain in June 2025 – Las Rojas meanwhile have only trailed at the break in two of their last 18 matches, but both occasions were against England (also in February 2025 – lost 1-0).

● Beth Mead has scored 39 goals in 78 appearances for England in all competitions and is just one goal away from equalling Fara Williams (40) in fifth on the all-time top Lionesses’ top goalscorer list, and only two goals away from moving level with Karen Walker (41) in fourth all-time.

● Spain’s Clàudia Pina has scored a brace in three of her last five international appearances, doing so in both of her last two outings. Her only other brace for the national team came against England in June 2025, in the UEFA Women’s Nations League.

● Georgia Stanway has scored in each of her last five appearances for England (8 goals) and could become the first player to score in six or more consecutive outings for the Lionesses since Kerry Davis had a seven-game run between March 1986 and November 1987.

England women squad news

Ticket Information for England women v Spain

How to watch or stream England women v Spain

This game will be shown live in the UK on ITV's platforms.