By Georgia Stanway just cannot stop scoring for England. The midfielder found the net in both legs of the Women’s World Cup qualifying play-off against Greece as the Lionesses sealed an 8-1 aggregate triumph with a thumping 5-0 win in Leicester.
Georgia Stanway celebrates for England (Credits: BBC Sport)
Stanway opened the scoring in the 3-1 first-leg win in Crete and struck again at the King Power Stadium to complete the rout, becoming England’s top scorer this season. Her goals in the past five days mean she has now netted 11 times in her last 11 matches for her country — and she ranks inside the top three European internationals for goals scored since Euro 2025.
Wiegman’s “Warrior”
England boss Sarina Wiegman was full of admiration after the Leicester display, describing the 27-year-old as a “warrior” who delivers when it matters most. “She is always so eager to go towards goal. She has that tenacity in her,” Wiegman said. “She is always aggressive out of possession but also in possession. She scored a great header and controlled that really good ball from Alex Greenwood. That was really good athleticism and composure.”
Former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis went further, telling BBC Radio 5 Live that Stanway was “unplayable at times” against Greece — and the stats back it up: she won all of her tackles, posted a 90% passing accuracy, took four shots, scored once and had another strike ruled out.
That disallowed effort was a thing of beauty in its own right. Stanway took control of a long ball inside the box with one deft touch and fired it powerfully into the bottom corner with the second — only for the offside flag to cut the celebrations short, much to Wiegman’s dismay.
A New Role, Same Ruthlessness
What made the Leicester performance even more impressive was the tactical tweak behind it. Stanway spent much of the match operating in a more advanced right-wing role after midfield changes, with 20-year-old debutant Lexi Potter providing cover alongside the experienced Keira Walsh and Lauren James pulling the strings at number 10.
“Stanway has shown how flexible she is, how exceptional she is both at the bottom end of the pitch, breaking up play, as well as at the top end,” Brown-Finnis noted. “She was playing as a second striker, playing out on the right, dropping deep as a number 10. She’s been absolutely brilliant.”
Wiegman summed up what makes her so special: “She is goal-orientated, has a great shot and the disallowed goal showed her great mobility and athleticism. When you really need a fight, or a duel, or a counter-attack breaking up, she is there. She is a warrior who you can play a possession game with too.”
England’s job is not done yet. The Lionesses still must navigate a two-legged play-off tie against Ukraine at the end of the year to book their place at the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil. With Stanway in this kind of form, few would bet against them.
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
