Spain moved within touching distance of automatic qualification for the 2027 Women’s World Cup after cruising to a dominant 4-0 victory over England on Friday, while Germany secured their place at the tournament with a straightforward win over Norway.

The winners of each of the four European qualifying Group A sections earn direct qualification to the finals. Germany’s 2-0 triumph over Norway ensured they finished top of Group A4, opening an uncatchable four-point gap with one match remaining.

In Group A3, Spain and England remain level on 12 points, but Spain strengthened their position with an emphatic display in Mallorca.

England entered the match knowing a victory would significantly boost their qualification hopes, but Spain took control early and never looked back. Patri Guijarro opened the scoring in the 19th minute before Alexia Putellas doubled the advantage ahead of halftime.

The hosts continued to dominate after the interval, with Putellas netting her second goal of the evening 10 minutes into the second half. Claudia Pina then completed the rout, finishing off a brilliant move created by Aitana Bonmati to seal a convincing 4-0 win.

The result leaves Spain firmly in the hunt for automatic qualification, while Germany can already celebrate booking their place at next year’s Women’s World Cup finals.

England remain in contention for automatic qualification, but their fate is no longer entirely in their own hands. The Lionesses must achieve a better result against Ukraine at home next Tuesday than Spain manage in their final Group A3 match away to Iceland.

Group A2 produced late drama as Ireland claimed a crucial 3-2 victory over the Netherlands. Amber Barrett struck in the 90th minute to secure the win, lifting Ireland above the Dutch into second place and leaving them just one point behind group leaders France, who recorded a 2-0 victory over Poland.

The qualification race in the group will go down to the final round of fixtures, with Ireland travelling to Grenoble to face France, while the Netherlands host Poland.

In Group A1, Denmark boosted their hopes of securing direct qualification after coming from behind to beat Sweden 2-1. Captain Pernille Harder made a decisive impact from the bench, scoring the winning goal and ending Sweden’s chances of finishing top of the group.

Denmark lead Group A1 with 11 points and will conclude their campaign against bottom-placed Serbia. Italy sit second, three points behind the leaders, and will face Sweden in their final qualifier as they attempt to keep their qualification hopes alive.