Belgium vs England LIVE: Women’s Nations League result and reaction as Wullaert scores late winning penalty
Belgium 3-2 England: The Lionesses slump to defeat in Belgium and face uphill battle to reach Nations League semi-finals
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England suffered a big blow to their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the Nations League as a brilliantly entertaining contest against Belgium was won by the hosts.
Too often in the match the Lionesses were caught on their heels and forced to scramble back in defence as the Belgians came forward on the counter-attack. A foul just outside the box set up Laura De Neve to whip home a fantastic free kick which put the home side ahead.
A collision between Jassina Blom and Alex Greenwood saw the England defender stretchered off the pitch after a long delay. England responded to the break better, they equalised off the head of Lucy Bronze before Fran Kirby slotted home a cool finish to get them in front.
Another counter was the Lionesses’ undoing though as Tessa Wullaert beat Mary Earps with a shot across the box before a late penalty, due to a handball from Georgia Stanway, decided proceedings as Wullaert earned her team a famous victory.
Relive the action from Belgium vs England below:
Wiegman wants England to improve in final third
Sarina Wiegman has been reacting to England’s performance against Belgium last Friday and has revealed the areas she wants the Lionesses to improve on.
She said: “I was happy with how we played on Friday and hopefully we showed that too. We could have made it easier for ourselves but how we were on the pitch and how wanted to play out of possession and in possession, we did really well.
“What we want to be a little better at in possession is in the final third. We create chances but it is that final pass or final execution where we need to do better.”
Belgium vs England
Belgium’s only previous win against England came in a friendly in Ostende in May 1980.
The 2-1 result came in what was their first ever home games against the Lionesses but they’ve lost three of the four such games since with the other match ending in a draw.
Belgium vs England
Here’s an inside look at tonight’s venue in Belgium as the Lionesses look to back up their victory from Friday night:
England line-up vs Belgium
England XI: Earps; Bronze, Bright, Greenwood, Charles; Walsh, Stanway, Kirby; Kelly, Russo, Hemp
Subs: Morgan, Hampton, Toone, Carter, Zelem, Wubben-Moy, Clinton, Daly, Le Tissier, Roebuck, Park, Keating.
England team changes
Sarina Wiegman makes just one change to the Lionesses starting XI from their 1-0 victory over Belgium last Friday night.
Fran Kirby starts her first game for England since recovering from injury and slots into the midfield replacing Ella Toone who drops to the bench.
Why the Ballon d’Or still doesn’t care about women’s football
The show was always going to be about Lionel Messi. For the eighth and perhaps final time, the greatest player in the world won the Ballon d’Or, and in the glitz, glamour, and sparkly tuxedos of the Paris ceremony, there could be few who disagreed the night belonged to the Argentine after his World Cup-winning year.
The Ballon d’Or is more than that, though, or so it claimed at the beginning of the two-hour ceremony on Monday night. Host Didier Drogba declared the presentation would be a celebration of the best male and female players in the world. Yet apart from the outstanding Aitana Bonmati, the Spain and Barcelona midfielder who deservedly picked up her first Ballon d’Or award, the best women’s players in the world were barely recognised at all.
There were some improvements: Barcelona won Women’s Club of the Year, a new prize which honoured the European champions and treble winners, but throughout the evening were constant reminders that the Ballon d’Or did not care enough about the women’s game: you could start with scheduling the ceremony in the middle of a women’s international window, and on the eve of a busy night of fixtures in the Women’s Nations League.
Why the Ballon d’Or still doesn’t care about women’s football
Aitana Bonmati was the only women’s player to win an individual award and Novak Djokovic presented the main prize – so what message does that send about equality in football, asks Jamie Braidwood?
Wiegman on what to expect from the Lionesses tonight
“We always talk about our game plan and the different parts of the game, so in possession, out of possession and in transitional moments.” Sarina Wiegman said when explaining what she hopes to see from this evening’s clash with Belgium.
“But what I really liked on Friday, was there was so much energy in the team and you saw the players’ real intention that we really wanted to win.
“If we lost the ball, we wanted to win it back and we had only one stage in the game where we dropped a little bit and then we picked up again.
“So what I want to see [on Tuesday night] at least is the same energy and intention of the whole team and the togetherness and then what we said in possession, get it to the next level, especially in the final third.
“We also want to prevent the counter-attacks because they are really trying to get into their counter-attacks and try to get free kicks and corners. So if we can have as less of those as possible then we will make it even easier on ourselves.”
Belgium line-up vs England
There are two changes to the Belgium team from Friday’s match with Jassina Blom and Sari Kees returning to the line-up as Feli Delacauw and Jody Vangheluwe drop to the bench.
Belgium XI: Evrard, Kees, De Caigny, De Neve, Cayman, Missipo, Vanhaevermaet, Deloose, Blom, Detruyer, Wullaert.
Subs: Lemey, Lichtfus, Daniels, Delacauw, Fon, Iliano, Janssens, Littel, Philtjens, Van Belle, Vangheluwe, Wijnants.
Belgium vs England
England enjoyed 71 per cent possession and had 23 shots at goal compared to Belgium’s 12 in their encounter on Friday night but only managed one first-half goal from Lauren Hemp.
Can they improve this evening?
How can Team GB reach the Olympics?
Sarina Wiegman’s side must top their group to have a chance of qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games on behalf of Team GB.
Great Britain will reach the Olympics if England, the nominated nation to play on their behalf, reach the Nations League final.
However, third place could also be enough to reach the competition if the Olympics host nation, France, reach the final of the Nations League.
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