Apakah babak play-off Piala Dunia Wanita Eropa berjalan efektif?

England have lost just once this year but have still not qualified for the 2027 Women's World Cup

The ease in which England saw off Greece in round one of the Women's World Cup qualifying play-offs showed just how inefficient the structure currently is.

The two-time European champions were superior in every sense as they won 8-1 on aggregate against a Greece side ranked 55 places lower in the world.

Realistically, Greece stood little chance in a two-legged tie against Sarina Wiegman's side despite performing well in their home 3-1 defeat.

England's resounding victory was not a one-off as Europe's other top nations, who were forced to drop into the play-offs, also met lower-ranked opposition and won emphatically.

It was not an evening that truly reflects the growth of European women's football, which has become more competitive than ever in recent years.

It was, however, indicative that the qualification process perhaps needs reviewing by Uefa.

'Unplayable' Stanway a free-scoring warrior for Lionesses

One of the main reasons for Tuesday night's results was that only one team from the league phase groups received automatic qualification.

The Netherlands, 2017 European champions, finished second in their group behind France, ranked sixth in the world. They went on to beat Hungary 11-0 on aggregate.

Norway, World Cup winners in 1995 and six-time European finalists, lost out to giants Germany in their group and ended up beating Romania 8-0.

Other League A fallouts Sweden and the Republic of Ireland thrashed their opponents 15-0 and 12-0 respectively.

So it was no surprise when back-to-back European champions England, who were drawn in the same group as world champions Spain, went on to record another heavy victory against much weaker opposition from League C in their play-off.

"Of course we wanted to qualify straight away, that's not the case," said England manager Wiegman when asked about the qualification process again on Tuesday.

"For us now, the facts are that we are in the play-offs, we have played Greece, now we're through, and now we're going to play Ukraine. That's what my focus is on.

"Uefa will review how things are set up and see whether they think it works or it should be better, or different. I don't think it's my place now to review that."

The Lionesses still have another two-legged tie against Ukraine to play, with the first leg taking place away from home on 1 December and the return fixture at Wembley Stadium on 5 December.

Ukraine are a side who England beat twice in the league phase by an aggregate score of 9-1.

It seems absurd that they should have to beat the same team on at least three occasions as part of their qualification process.

England have won seven of their last eight qualifying matches, scoring 21 goals, conceding just six times, and their only defeat was away from home against world champions Spain.

They came runners-up in League A3 only on their head-to-head record with the best team in the world - they even beat Spain 1-0 at Wembley.

England's overall tally of 15 points in the league phase was beaten by just three other teams - Germany, Switzerland and Hungary.

Switzerland and Hungary were also in qualifying groups in League B and League C that did not include a single team from the world's top 45 ranked nations.

In contrast England, who were seeded in League A, had Iceland - ranked 13th - as a tricky opponent, and world number one Spain in their four-team group.

There were several heavy aggregate results in European qualifying

When qualifying for the 2023 Women's World Cup, England beat Latvia on two occasions, winning 20-0 and 10-0 .

That tournament saw an increase from 24 to 32 teams and while qualification was still one-sided, the showpiece in Australia and New Zealand was a different story.

England were tested against debutants Haiti in the group stages, narrowly winning 1-0, and by Colombia in their quarter-final, despite the South American side failing to qualify for the previous tournament.

The level of competition was growing and it was evident even more so across Europe with England failing to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games on behalf of Team GB after finishing second to the Netherlands in their Nations League group.

A draw with Portugal and defeat by Belgium were suffered by England the following year, while they were forced to overcome two penalty shootouts in Euro 2025.

There is no denying that England's competition has improved but they were still dealt a rough hand in this year's World Cup qualifying campaign.

Following their costly 4-0 defeat by Spain in June, Wiegman said: "The competition in Europe is really high.

"What I'm disappointed about is that we win five games, we have 15 points and we're in a group with the world champions and then you can't qualify.

"I'm happy with the performances but not the result of us having to go into the play-offs. That's just the way it is."

What is frustrating for England is that while they picked up a routine win over Greece and now prepare to face an opponent they have already played twice in 2026, their potential World Cup rivals are getting to play matches against top-tier teams.

Two of the tournament favourites Germany and Japan met in a friendly match on Tuesday night; Brazil and Argentina played out a 2-2 draw and four-time world champions USA played Spain twice in five days in a mouth-watering meeting.

Fifa has announced that the 2031 Women's World Cup will be expanded from 32 to 48 teams and it is too early to know if that is the right decision.

But while larger scorelines remain, it is clear it is more a direct result of a European qualification process that doesn't benefit the majority.

Inggris hanya kalah sekali tahun ini tetapi masih belum lolos ke Piala Dunia Wanita 2027

Betapa mudahnya Inggris menyingkirkan Yunani di putaran pertama play-off kualifikasi Piala Dunia Wanita menunjukkan betapa tidak efisiennya struktur saat ini.

Juara Eropa dua kali itu lebih unggul dalam segala hal saat menang 8-1 secara agregat melawan Yunani yang berada 55 peringkat lebih rendah di dunia.

Secara realistis, Yunani hampir tidak punya peluang dalam pertandingan dua leg melawan tim asuhan Sarina Wiegman meskipun tampil baik dalam kekalahan 3-1 di kandang.

Kemenangan telak Inggris bukanlah hal yang unik karena negara-negara top Eropa lainnya, yang terpaksa turun ke play-off, juga menghadapi lawan berperingkat lebih rendah dan menang dengan meyakinkan.

Itu bukan malam yang benar-benar mencerminkan pertumbuhan sepak bola wanita Eropa, yang menjadi lebih kompetitif dari sebelumnya dalam beberapa tahun terakhir.

Namun, itu menunjukkan bahwa proses kualifikasi mungkin perlu ditinjau oleh Uefa.

Stanway yang 'tak terbendung' menjadi pejuang produktif bagi Lionesses

Salah satu alasan utama hasil Selasa malam adalah hanya satu tim dari grup fase liga yang mendapat kualifikasi otomatis.

Belanda, juara Eropa 2017, finis kedua di grup mereka di belakang Prancis, yang berada di peringkat keenam dunia. Mereka kemudian mengalahkan Hungaria 11-0 secara agregat.

Norwegia, juara Piala Dunia 1995 dan enam kali finalis Eropa, kalah dari raksasa Jerman di grup mereka dan akhirnya mengalahkan Rumania 8-0.

Tim Liga A lainnya yang tersingkir, Swedia dan Republik Irlandia, masing-masing menghancurkan lawan mereka 15-0 dan 12-0.

Jadi tidak mengherankan ketika juara Eropa berturut-turut Inggris, yang tergabung di grup yang sama dengan juara dunia Spanyol, meraih kemenangan besar lainnya melawan lawan yang jauh lebih lemah dari Liga C di play-off mereka.

"Tentu saja kami ingin lolos langsung, tapi tidak demikian," kata manajer Inggris Wiegman ketika ditanya tentang proses kualifikasi lagi pada Selasa.

"Bagi kami sekarang, faktanya adalah kami berada di play-off, kami sudah bermain melawan Yunani, sekarang kami lolos, dan sekarang kami akan bermain melawan Ukraina. Itu fokus saya.

"Uefa akan meninjau bagaimana semuanya diatur dan melihat apakah mereka pikir ini berjalan baik atau harus lebih baik, atau berbeda. Saya rasa bukan tempat saya sekarang untuk meninjau itu."

Lionesses masih harus memainkan satu lagi pertandingan dua leg melawan Ukraina, dengan leg pertama berlangsung di kandang lawan pada 1 Desember dan pertandingan balasan di Stadion Wembley pada 5 Desember.

Ukraina adalah tim yang dikalahkan Inggris dua kali di fase liga dengan skor agregat 9-1.

Tampak tidak masuk akal bahwa mereka harus mengalahkan tim yang sama setidaknya tiga kali sebagai bagian dari proses kualifikasi mereka.

Inggris telah memenangkan tujuh dari delapan pertandingan kualifikasi terakhir mereka, mencetak 21 gol, hanya kebobolan enam kali, dan satu-satunya kekalahan mereka adalah di kandang lawan melawan juara dunia Spanyol.

Mereka menjadi runner-up di Liga A3 hanya berdasarkan rekor head-to-head dengan tim terbaik di dunia - mereka bahkan mengalahkan Spanyol 1-0 di Wembley.

Total 15 poin Inggris di fase liga hanya dikalahkan oleh tiga tim lain - Jerman, Swiss, dan Hungaria.

Swiss dan Hungaria juga berada di grup kualifikasi di Liga B dan Liga C yang tidak mencakup satu pun tim dari 45 negara peringkat teratas dunia.

Sebaliknya Inggris, yang diunggulkan di Liga A, memiliki Islandia - peringkat 13 - sebagai lawan yang sulit, dan Spanyol peringkat satu dunia di grup empat tim mereka.

Ada beberapa hasil agregat besar dalam kualifikasi Eropa

Saat kualifikasi untuk Piala Dunia Wanita 2023, Inggris mengalahkan Latvia dua kali, menang 20-0 dan 10-0.

Turnamen itu melihat peningkatan dari 24 menjadi 32 tim dan meskipun kualifikasi masih sepihak, pertunjukan di Australia dan Selandia Baru adalah cerita yang berbeda.

Inggris diuji melawan debutan Haiti di fase grup, menang tipis 1-0, dan oleh Kolombia di perempat final mereka, meskipun tim Amerika Selatan itu gagal lolos ke turnamen sebelumnya.

Tingkat kompetisi tumbuh dan bahkan lebih jelas di seluruh Eropa dengan Inggris gagal lolos ke Olimpiade 2024 mewakili Tim GB setelah finis kedua di belakang Belanda di grup Nations League mereka.

Hasil imbang dengan Portugal dan kekalahan dari Belgia dialami Inggris tahun berikutnya, sementara mereka terpaksa melewati dua adu penalti di Euro 2025.

Tidak dapat disangkal bahwa kompetisi Inggris telah meningkat tetapi mereka masih mendapat undian yang berat di kampanye kualifikasi Piala Dunia tahun ini.

Setelah kekalahan mahal 4-0 dari Spanyol pada Juni, Wiegman mengatakan: "Kompetisi di Eropa sangat tinggi.

"Yang mengecewakan saya adalah kami menang lima pertandingan, kami punya 15 poin dan kami berada di grup dengan juara dunia dan kemudian Anda tidak bisa lolos.

"Saya senang dengan penampilan tetapi tidak dengan hasil bahwa kami harus masuk play-off. Itulah kenyataannya."

Yang membuat frustrasi bagi Inggris adalah sementara mereka meraih kemenangan rutin atas Yunani dan sekarang bersiap menghadapi lawan yang sudah mereka mainkan dua kali pada 2026, rival potensial mereka di Piala Dunia mendapatkan pertandingan melawan tim-tim tingkat atas.

Dua favorit turnamen, Jerman dan Jepang, bertemu dalam pertandingan persahabatan pada Selasa malam; Brasil dan Argentina bermain imbang 2-2 dan juara dunia empat kali AS bermain melawan Spanyol dua kali dalam lima hari dalam pertemuan yang menggugah selera.

Fifa telah mengumumkan bahwa Piala Dunia Wanita 2031 akan diperluas dari 32 menjadi 48 tim dan masih terlalu dini untuk mengetahui apakah itu keputusan yang tepat.

Tetapi selama skor besar masih ada, jelas itu lebih merupakan hasil langsung dari proses kualifikasi Eropa yang tidak menguntungkan mayoritas.