The England captain, Leah Williamson, has described Northern Ireland as a “serious contender” ahead of the Lionesses’ World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park on Tuesday evening.
Williamson is the only confirmed change to England’s starting lineup having sat out the 10-0 win against North Macedonia in Skopje on Friday as a result of precautionary concussion protocol.
“I thought the girls were great, very professional, we had a job to do, we wanted to create lots of chances and prove to be a clinical team and the girls did that,” Williamson said. “It’s never nice to sit out a football match but when the girls play like that it’s fairly easy.”
Should England beat Northern Ireland and Austria drop points against Latvia, also on Tuesday evening, then the Lionesses’ qualification for the 2023 World Cup would be confirmed with two games to spare. For Northern Ireland, who meet England in Group A at the European Championship this summer, a win would keep alive their hopes of a playoff spot – they sit third in the group, three points behind Austria.
In October, in front of 23,225 fans at Wembley, England beat Northern Ireland 4-0 with a second-half hat‑trick from the Arsenal forward Beth Mead and a 72nd-minute strike from Chelsea’s Beth England. On paper, beating a side 38 places below them in the world rankings should be a straightforward task for England but Northern Ireland, managed by Kenny Shiels, are a rapidly evolving team and Williamson is refusing to take them lightly.
“It was a competitive and difficult game last time, especially in the first half,” she said. “Yes, we’ve had some games we’ve won comfortably [in this qualifying campaign] but I don’t expect it to be comfortable on Tuesday – Northern Ireland are proving with each game that comes that they’re a serious contender.
“That’s the beauty of qualification. There’s something to play for and you don’t get much more of a challenge than that.”
For the Arsenal defender, the occasion will be extra special as it will be the first time she leads England out since the manager, Sarina Wiegman, named her as her captain for the home European Championship this summer.
“The main thing is it’s obviously a very proud moment,” Williamson said. “The biggest honour in football. I appreciate that and I’m aware of the responsibility that comes with that title, especially in England.
“My family are obviously very happy for me. For us it’s something we do every day, it’s our job but for them it’s something for them to enjoy and maybe after all these years of following me around and watching me, to watch me then do it on the biggest stage, with that responsibility, is really proud for them.”
Williamson is also no stranger to feeling the heat in Belfast. On 9 April 2015, two weeks after her 18th birthday, the then under-19s captain was forced to take a truly bizarre penalty in the city against Norway.
It was a replay of a penalty she had taken against the same opponent in a European Championship qualifier five days earlier and which she converted, only for it to be ruled out by the referee Marija Kurtes for encroachment.
The German official subsequently awarded Norway a free-kick when she should have ordered the penalty to be retaken – Uefa intervened and decided it would indeed be retaken, in isolation, in Belfast. Williamson again converted, securing a 2-2 draw for England and sealing their place at the European Championship finals.
Northern Ireland (4-4-2) Burns; Vance, Robson, Nelson Magee; Holloway, McCarron, Furness, Callaghan; Wade, Magill. Subs from McKenna, C McGuinness, Flaherty, Burrows, Hamilton, Caldwell, Finnegan, Bell, Wilson, Andrews, K McGuinness.
England (4-2-3-1) Earps; Bronze, Carter, Bright, Stokes; Walsh, Williamson; Mead, Toone, Hemp; White. Subs Hampton, Roebuck, Stanway, Daly, Zelem, George, Parris, Nobbs, Russo.
Referee Riem Hussein (Ger).
“It turned out well in the end but what I went through that week I wouldn’t wish on anybody,” Williamson said. “I remember I told my mum I would keep it quiet in case I missed and nobody would ever know, and then you lot turned up with your Sky Sports cameras. There’s a couple of the girls here that were in that squad and we were reminiscing about it the other day. It’s a good memory because it turned out well, but it could have gone very differently.”
Looking ahead to the World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland, as well as beyond, Wiegman said: “As we approach every game we are looking to develop our style of play, we want to play well, we want to play good as a team and tomorrow we want to create lots of chances and concede no goals.
“It’s going to be a tough game, it’s going to be a great crowd, a big occasion, so I’m really looking forward to that, For them, it’s possibly the last chance they have to win to be able to qualify and we want to win and get as close as possible to qualifying.”
