"Here we go again," says England manager Wiegman in reference to Spain's World Cup qualification reunion

Three months after England defeated Spain in a penalty shootout in the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 final the Lionesses were selected in their qualifying group with the global champions. During their six league stage games England will also play Iceland and Ukraine.

Speaking to the media following the qualification draw, England manager Wiegman acknowledged that there was a lot of excitement in the air due to the possibility of two more heavyweight bouts between England and Spain.

"We appear to play each other frequently, whether in competitions or in draws like the Nations League right now, and you can see both teams are very, very close and competitive, so here we go again," Wiegman remarked. "

"I believe that playing Iceland and Ukraine is also enjoyable. It's been a while since we played them.

Naturally, Ukraine was promoted to League A, which was excellent for them. Although we don't currently know them well, I think it's wonderful to play a team we don't yet know and to have that challenge.

Naturally, Iceland had to play Northern Ireland in the playoffs, and they were a difficult opponent. I haven’t played them with England, but they have some really excellent players in their side too.

"I think it's an exciting group, and you could tell in the draw room that it created some excitement when we were drawn with Spain."

Either Spain or England will have to go through the play-offs because the UEFA qualification process provides an automatic route to the FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil in 2027. Wiegman emphasized how crucial it is to perform consistently from now until next summer.

"It's difficult to get into the World Cup; you have to win your group to get in right away, or else you have to go to the play-offs, so you have to perform every single day," she remarked. In this situation, you cannot afford to perform below your best.

I think we have a very good team and we're planning to do everything we can to be at our best in the short term to win games, and hopefully after that we'll be getting ready for the World Cup. "With that said, we never take it for granted that we'll qualify."

On Tuesday March 3 2026, the first round of qualifying matches will begin.