World Cup qualifiers

First up was Norway against Armenia with Guro Reiten starting and Maren Mjelde on the bench. It was an eventful match with the referee calling time on play in the 70th minute due to dense fog and poor visibility, with Norway leading 9-0. One of the goals came from our very own Reiten in the 51st minute. The final 20 minutes resumed today with the visitors adding one more goal to their tally, taking it to 10-0 and keeping them top of Group F.

Next up, Blues captain Magdalena Eriksson and Jonna Andersson started for Sweden with Zecira Musovic on the bench against Slovakia. The hosts were able to end the day with a 3-0 win, making it five wins from five in their qualifying rounds so far. They at at the top of Group A.

Melanie Leupolz was on fine form for Germany, scoring against Portugal in the 28th minute with Ann-Katrin Berger starting on the bench. The German side took a respectable 3-1 win away with them.

Millie Bright captained the Lionesses once more with Bethany England lining up with her for kick-off, with Jess Carter and Niamh Charles on the bench. The match was dominated by England throughout with a whopping 20 goals on the scoreboard, just missing out on the all-time women’s record of 21.There were hat-tricks from Beth Mead, Ellen White, Alessia Russo and four for Lauren Hemp with our Blues players also getting in the action with a goal from Carter in the 56th minute and a brace from England. It’s six wins from six for England under Sarina Wiegman as the Lionesses sit top of group D.

Unfortunately for Scotland, they did not have such an enjoyable outing as they went down 8-0 to Spain in Seville with Erin Cuthbert starting. Spain dominated with nearly 80 per cent of possession, with Scotland unable to get a score on the board. Scotland sit second in group B and await their next fixtures in April against Ukraine and Spain.

Rounding off the World Cup qualifiers was Sophie Ingle who captained Wales once more as they faced France. France left it to the last minutes of each half to score, with the game ending 2-0 in their favour with Wales having a player sent off in the second half. This is Wales’ first defeat of their World Cup campaign and they sit second in Group I as they head into next year’s fixtures.

International friendlies

Round two of the international friendlies resumed with Canada up against Mexico and Jessie Fleming on from the get-go. Fleming had a superb opportunity to give the reigning Olympic Champions the lead in the 20th minute but unfortunately for her, it rolled just wide. The visitors were unable to convert their attempts and the match ended in a draw. The Canadians extend their 12-match unbeaten streak and they head to face the Lionesses next February in a newly announced invitational tour.

Sam Kerr was back representing Australia against the USA once more in front of 20,000 fans in Newcastle. USA took the lead early in the fourth minute with a strike from Ashley Hatch. The Matildas kept the fans waiting before treating them to a last-gasp goal in the 88th minute to take it to 1-1 at the final whistle against the world number one team.

Last up was Ji So-yun for South Korea against New Zealand, meeting them for the second time in the past week. Although South Korea had more possession and shots on target, unfortunately they were not able to convert that into the win and New Zealand put home two last-minute goals to take the 2-0 victory.

The players will now be returning back to Cobham to train ahead of the FA Cup final this Sunday. The match will be shown on BBC 1 and BT Sports with a 2pm kick-off.