England head coach Sarina Wiegman says that her side hope to diminish the strengths that latest opponents Iceland possess.
The Lionesses face Iceland in Reykjavik in their latest FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 qualifier on Saturday evening.
While England are expected to get the job done, Iceland possess various qualities that can trouble opponents. When speaking in the pre-match press conference, England boss Wiegman highlighted the importance of diminishing Iceland’s strengths.
“I expect a very disciplined team, very together, very powerful and hard to break down,” Wiegman said. “They’re really good on the counter attack and very good from set plays and throw-ins. That’s exactly what they shown when we played them in Nottingham and we hope to diminish that as much as possible.”
England set very high standards as they defeated Spain 1-0 at Wembley on Tuesday night and Wiegman says that it is important to carry the positives from that game forward.
She said “Of course, that’s what we want. It’s a totally different challenge but it’ll make the win from last Tuesday [against Spain] even more valuable if we get a result tomorrow and that’s what we want to go for.
“It’s different circumstances, a different opponent but we will get ready.”
England haven’t always had it easy on their travels against lesser-ranked opponents with the likes of Portugal and Belgium having caused the Lionesses problems in the last 15 months. Wiegman says that learnings can be taken from past experiences.
She said “Yes, there are always learnings and in those Nations League campaigns, we were really disappointed that we couldn’t get those wins. We thought that we could’ve done better and got across the line. We are absolutely aware.
“This is a new game, a new situation with Iceland in-front of us here in Reykjavik. We are going to get ready in the best possible way, go for a good performance and a win.”
England’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 qualifier against Iceland kicks-off at 5.30pm on Saturday evening.
