New year, new look England, same lack of consistency. Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses began their Nations League campaign with a profligate and frustrating 1-1 draw against Portugal in Portimão.
“I’m disappointed about the result,” said the England manager, who also took time after the game to express her solidarity with Spain’s players after Luis Rubiales was convicted of sexual assault for kissing Jenni Hermoso after the World Cup final against England. “I stand with the Spanish players and it’s really sad they have this on their path. They are changing society, and they have so much courage to stand for this and themselves and we stand in solidarity with them. We have the Nations League starting tonight, we are talking about this but we should be talking about the Spanish team and how good they are at football.”
In a group with the World Cup holders, also the world’s No 2 side, and Belgium and Portugal, ranked 19th and 22nd in the world respectively, England needed a strong start. But Kika Nazareth’s goal to cancel out Alessia Russo’s first-half effort will be a frustrating and potentially dangerous one. Spain, meanwhile, came from two goals down to earn a 3-2 win over Belgium deep into injury time.
Without Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood, who are all absent with medium- to long-term injuries, and Beth Mead, who withdrew from the squad late on with a calf injury, Wiegman handed starts to two of England’s brightest young talents. The steady integration with the senior regulars of Manchester United’s Grace Clinton and Manchester City’s Jess Park is gathering pace ahead of the Euros, the injuries quickening the necessity.
Against Portugal Clinton shone, her relationship with club teammate Ella Toone and Chelsea’s Keira Walsh growing stronger by the minute. The 21-year-old was metronomic in the first half, and showed her value defensively early on when England failed to clear Joana Marchão’s free-kick and the midfielder made a shot-blocking tackle.
Portugal have not been easy prey for England. The last meeting between the two teams came in July 2023, as both sides prepared for the World Cup, and ended in a stalemate. Preceding that, a scrappy second-half Mead goal salvaged a win for England in Setúbal in October 2019 – towards the end of Phil Neville’s tenure.
In Portimão, on the Algarve, it took 10 minutes for England to find their feet but by the 15-minute mark they were ahead and playing with a fluidity that belied the four-month absence of international football. The goal itself was particularly special, Lauren James’s crossfield ball was met by Lucy Bronze at the byline and the full-back, who is half Portuguese and played with both flags printed on her boots, delivered an unexpected and sumptuous cross in for an unmarked Russo to sidefoot in from close range.
Clearcut chances were few and far between, Francisco Neto’s side a well-organised unit, but England arguably should have had a penalty moments before the break, Clinton furious after being pulled back as she drove through the middle to meet Russo’s header back across goal. “Yes, honest answer,” said Wiegman on whether she felt it was a penalty, before adding that, regardless, England had enough opportunities outside of that chance to get the second goal.
Bronze did not return after half-time, a precaution said Wiegman afterwards, but England struggled to stay ticking.
Neto credited the shift in momentum in favour of his side to a change in formation to a 4-4-2. “I felt like the result was really fair for us,” he said. “England had problems before Kika came on in the second half, when we changed formation, we started to dominate the game and felt really comfortable.”
The longer the second goal eluded the visiting team, the more Portugal grew into the game and Clinton was put under pressure for the equaliser.
The Barcelona forward Nazareth, who made her debut for Benfica at 16, had been a surprise omission from the Portugal starting XI. But she made England pay for their profligacy in the second half, the substitute shrugging off the challenge of England’s young dynamo before curling the ball into the top corner from just inside the box.
Late call-up Chloe Kelly and the Chelsea forward Aggie Beever-Jones were thrown into the mix late on, but it was Portugal that would go closest to a winner, the centre-back pairing Millie Bright and Leah Williamson both called upon to make blocks minutes apart as the clock ticked towards full time.
England head to Wembley on Wednesday night to play Spain for the first time since the World Cup final, while Portugal travel to Belgium. Lose to the world champions, and England will heap the pressure on themselves as they head into April’s fixtures, their inability to escape the group stage last season, and failure to qualify for the Olympics as a result, weighing heavy.
