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."
England's path to next summer's tournament in Brazil has just become much longer and far more convoluted. Round 1 (October): As a League A runner-up, England will be seeded and drawn against a League C group winner (or one of the best League C runners-up). Round 2 (late November/early December): If successful in round 1, England will advance to a second two-legged play-off round to determine the final tournament qualifiers. The draw for the play-off matches will take place on June 18.
Striker Alessia Russo made reference to the difficulty of facing Spain in the qualifiers, admitting that it was difficult not to go through despite only losing one game.
"I think obviously we all know that we didn't play well enough against Spain," Russo told Sky Sports . They also put on a fantastic performance and all credit to them.
"We know the performance was below our standards, so I think that was disappointing. We also wanted to qualify automatically for the World Cup, but now we're going to the play-offs. That's tough, but it's football. We had the toughest group playing Spain.
"I think we've won five out of six games and still not gone through. It's difficult, but it's football. We move and we go into the play-offs and we'll do everything we can to qualify."
Defender Niamh Charles was brought into the starting XI against Ukraine and shared a similar sentiment post-match.
She said: "Spain are an incredible side. When you look at our fixtures, it shows the two top teams were playing in a group together. We were unlucky to miss out."
The only A league group that England wouldn't have topped with 15 points was Group A, which saw Germany finish on 16 points. However, the Lionesses would've backed themselves had they been in that group, having won their last two encounters against them, including the Euro 2022 final.
Speaking with ITV post-match, both Beth Mead and Georgia Stanway questioned how the reigning European champions could miss out with an 80 per cent win ratio.
"It's very rare that you get 15 points and still not make it out of the group," Stanway said. I think that it shows our level, our consistency but we know our performance against Spain wasn't good enough and today we got a reaction."
Mead added: "It's frustrating. You know, there aren't many teams that aren't qualifying on 15 points, so it's the nature of the competition at the moment, and when you're in a group with Spain.
"It's very, very tough, and unfortunately, we finished second, and we go to the playoffs, but we stay motivated to obviously qualify that route instead."
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Sources: Sky Sports
