England Women 3-0 Ukraine Women: Lionesses rue Spain defeat as they question how one defeat cost them automatic World Cup spot

Sarina Wiegman and multiple England stars rued the 'toughest' World Cup qualifying group after failing to earn an automatic spot in next year's tournament despite winning five of their six games.

The Lionesses beat Ukraine 3-0 in their final qualification tie and finished on 15 points from a possible 18 in Group A3.

While that would've been enough for them to claim top spot in Group A1 & A2, their 4-0 defeat to Spain in the fifth game meant that the reigning world champions took top spot with a superior head-to-head record and goal difference.

England beat Spain 1-0 in April at Wembley, but were played off the park in Mallorca in a sobering outing. And Wiegman questioned how it was possible for the World Cup holders and European champions to be drawn in the same qualifying group.

"If you look at the group, like the Nations League, of course, the competition is really high.

"What I'm a bit disappointed about is that we win five games, we have 15 points and we are in a group with the European Champions, in the group with the World Champions, and that you then can't qualify. Of course, a night like this was a good football night, but I'm not really happy.

"I'm happy with the performance but not that we have to go into the play-offs, but that's the way it is and we are going to be ready for it."