England's Lionesses will play their 500th match on Saturday when they face Iceland in a World Cup qualifier in Reykjavík. Sarina Wiegman's side head into the fixture off the back of a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Spain at Wembley, putting them top of their qualifying group. With only the group winner securing automatic qualification for the World Cup, every point is crucial.
Wiegman stressed the importance of building on Tuesday's result. “It will be a different challenge but we need to make the win on Tuesday even more valuable by having a good result tomorrow,” she said. Iceland are considered England's easiest opponents in this international window, but the Lionesses have previously slipped against teams of a similar level in the Nations League, losing to Belgium and drawing with Portugal.
Defender Lucy Bronze, who will earn her 147th cap, described the milestone as “insane”. “It's crazy in two ways,” she said. “On the one hand it's only been 500, but at the same time – oh my God – it's 500 games.” Bronze praised the young talent coming through, including Lucia Kendall, and said the future of the team is in good hands.
Wiegman confirmed that Keira Barry has left the squad due to an ankle injury, but Leah Williamson is fit after recovering from a thigh problem. Williamson has not played since mid-March but will train before a final decision on her involvement. “She will train and the final decisions we always make after the session,” Wiegman added.
England have won all three of their qualifiers so far, and a victory in Iceland would leave them well placed ahead of June's matches against Spain and Ukraine. Kick-off at the Laugardalsvöllur Stadium is at 17:45 BST.
