Preview: England Women vs Iceland Women - prediction, team news, lineups

England Women will face Iceland Women in Saturday's 2027 Women's World Cup qualifier at the City Ground.

The Lionesses started their qualifying campaign with a dominant 6-1 win over Turkey, while Iceland fell to a 3-0 defeat against Spain in their first qualifier.

Match preview

England may have won the last two European Championships, but they are still hungry for more success, especially when it comes to the Women's World Cup.

The Lionesses went agonisingly close to lifting the coveted trophy in 2023, only to fall to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Spain in the final.

England will be hoping to go one step further in Brazil next year, but first, they must negotiate a qualifying format that guarantees each team in League A a playoff spot but only offers an automatic qualification berth for the group winners.

Sarina Wiegman's side started their bid for top spot with an emphatic 6-1 victory in Tuesday's away clash with Ukraine despite experiencing a frustrating goalless first half.

Alessio Russo netted a quickfire brace in the opening stages of the second period, before Yana Kalininia pulled a goal back for the designated hosts, who had to play the game in Antalya, Turkey, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Midfielder Georgia Stanway quickly took the game away from Ukraine with a double of her own, before Jess Park became the third England player to register a brace, with the comfortable win making it six competitive matches without defeat for the Lionesses.

England will be looking for another strong performance in their first game at the City Ground in 32 years, and they should fancy their chances of claiming maximum points, having won all three of their previous competitive home games against Iceland.

Iceland, meanwhile, are competing in League A after avoiding a demotion to League B via the promotion/relegation playoffs in 2025.

Thorsteinn Halldorsson's side dropped into the playoffs after they finished third in a Nations League group that featured France, Norway and Switzerland.

After avoiding automatic relegation by two points, Iceland preserved their League A status with a commanding 5-0 aggregate win over Northern Ireland in the playoffs.

Iceland can now compete in their World Cup qualifying group, knowing they are guaranteed at least a playoff berth in their bid to reach the finals for the very first time.

Their outside hopes of making a surprise bid for first position were dealt a blow on matchday one when they were comfortably beaten 3-0 by world champions Spain in Castellon.

Taking into account their last qualifying campaign, Iceland have now lost each of their previous three World Cup qualifiers, which will not inspire confidence ahead of their first meeting with England 17 years ago.

Iceland won 2-0 in that friendly encounter in July 2009, which ended a nine-game winless run in meetings with the Lionesses (D1, L8).

England Women World Cup qualifying form:

England Women form (all competitions):

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Iceland Women World Cup qualifying form:

Iceland Women form (all competitions):

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Team News

England defender Alex Greenwood is a doubt after missing the win over Ukraine with a minor muscle injury.

London City Lionesses full-back Poppy Pattinson made her international debut as a half-time substitute on Tuesday and is now pushing to earn her first England start.

Lauren James could also come into Wiegman’s thinking after settling for a substitute role in the opening World Cup qualifier.

As for Iceland, Inter Milan goalkeeper Cecilía Ran Runarsdottir is likely to experience another busy evening after making 11 saves in the defeat to Spain.

The shot-stopper will be shielded by a back four made up of Gudrun Arnardottir, Glodis Viggosdottir, Ingibjorg Sigurdardottir and Saedis Heidarsdottir.

At the opposite end of the pitch, Sveindis Jonsdottir is likely to offer one of Iceland's main attacking threats when she features in a front three that could include Hlin Eiriksdottir and Sandra Jessen.

England Women possible starting lineup:

Hampton; Le Tissier, Williamson, Wubben-Moy, Pattinson; Walsh, Stanway; Park, James, Hemp; Russo

Iceland Women possible starting lineup:

Runarsdottir; Arnardottir, Viggosdottir, Sigurdardottir, Heidarsdottir; Hermannsdottir, Vilhjalmsdottir, Antonsdottir; Eiriksdottir, Jonsdottir; Jessen