Women’s World Cup Qualifiers: How England triumphed over Northern Ireland with a convincing attacking performance – tactical analysis

England Women, also called the Lionesses, triumphed over Northern Ireland Women in the third fixture of the World Cup qualifiers at the emblematic Wembley Stadium which hosted an England Women official match for the first time ever. The Lionesses exploited the occasion in the best of ways as they won 4-0 over their opponents who run out of ideas to bounce back. England are now sharing the lead of Group D alongside Austria with nine points each while Northern Ireland are holding the third position with six points.

In this tactical analysis article, we will focus mainly on England’s performance to explore what went well and what needs to be further addressed in terms of tactics by head coach Sarina Wingman in order to get her team ready for the next big international competitions. At the same time, Northern Ireland’s weaknesses and issues will be identified while providing some tactical solutions for these problems.

Line-ups

England played according to the 4-3-3 formation with Mary Earps as a goalkeeper, Rachel Daly, Millie Bright, Manchester City’s Alex Greenwood and Demi Stokes in defence, Arsenal’s Leah Williamson as a defensive midfielder with both Manchester United’s Ella Toone and Chelsea’s Fran Kirby as central midfielders behind the two wingers Nikita Parris and Lauren Hemp, in support of the team’s striker, Ellen White.

The visitors used the 5-4-1 formation and started the match with Jacqueline Burns in goal, Rebecca McKenna, Julie Nelson, Sarah McFadden, Kelsie Burrows and Demi Vance in defence, Chloe McCarron and Rachel Furness as central midfielders, Caragh Hamilton and Lauren Wade as wingers with Marissa Callaghan as the team’s striker.

England’s solid attacking performance

England started the match with the right mentality and were aware of Northern Ireland’s initial high pressing that’s why they did well to keep their build up from the back quick and intelligent. The back-four and the midfielders did well to move without the ball in order to not fall in the trap of Northern Ireland’s pressing, and as soon as they exceeded that first line of pressing, England found it easier to reach the final third with accurate passes mainly towards White. The latter was excellent in collecting passes and retreating to provide passing options. At the same time, she leaves space for Parris and Hemp to fill by running towards the box and receiving passes from White, like you can see below.