England overcame a slow start to ease past Ukraine on Tuesday, Sarina Wiegman's side scoring six second-half goals to take three points from their opening qualifier for the 2027 World Cup.
With world champions Spain also in their group, the Lionesses need to be perfect in their games against Ukraine and Iceland and may have had some jitters after a goalless first 45 minutes in Turkey, where the game was played due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
But two each for Jess Park, Alessia Russo and Georgia Stanway allayed those fears and gave England an early boost in terms of goal difference.
Spain kept their side of the bargain with a 3-0 home victory over Iceland, a result that England will now look to at least equal on Saturday lunchtime when Iceland are the visitors to a sold-out City Ground in Nottingham.
