England qualify for Women’s World Cup as Nikita Parris seals win over Austria

The Lionesses secured their place at next summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with a 2-0 defeat of Austria in their first game since their European Championship final heroics in July.

Goals in either half from Alessia Russo and Nikita Parris, who scored her first England goal since September last year, helped England navigate past a tricky Austria seeking to upset the narrative and England top qualifying Group D having scored 70 goals and conceded none.

Sarina Wiegman had said, the day before the game, she had made up her mind about who would lead the line for England in place of Ellen White. She did not want to share who had been selected to occupy the starting berth of the Lionesses retired record goalscorer, but there was little doubt it would be Russo.

The 23-year-old shone off the bench in place of White in all of England’s six games at the Euros, scoring four times, with her audacious backheel against Sweden named goal of the tournament by Uefa.

It took seven minutes to make her mark in the tiny Wiener Neustadt stadium, which has three stands and is overlooked by a waterslide that children would back up in so they could have a look at what was happening on the pitch.

There was some good fortune to the goal, with England’s luck – when they avoided Covid and serious injuries to key personnel while main rivals suffered in the summer – continuing as Lauren Hemp’s header from Alex Greenwood’s cross ricocheted off the back of Georgia Stanway and looped favourably into the path of Russo who slammed her low volley back across goal and in.

It was Russo’s ninth goal in 13 games for the senior side and England’s third first-half goal scored against Austria in the past 10 months – White having scored the Lionesses’