England started their Women’s Nations League campaign with a frustrating 1-1 draw in Portugal after Kika Nazareth’s stunning strike cancelled out Alessia Russo’s opener.
It looked to be business as usual when the Lionesses began their first fixture of 2025 with Russo’s goal inside the first 15 minutes but to the frustration of Sarina Wiegman on the sidelines, they failed to make their dominance count.
Lauren James – in her first appearance for England since April – attempted the spectacular on several different occasions but other than her speculative efforts from long range, England rarely looked like adding to their lead.
Momentum then shifted when Portugal boss Francisco Neto brought Nazareth on just before the hour mark – and it was not long until she had her say to the delight of the home crowd at a sold out Estadio Municipal de Portimao.
The Barcelona ace regularly had the beating of Grace Clinton and shrugged off a challenge from the midfielder before curling her equaliser into the top right corner, away from the outstretched arm of Mary Earps.
England finished with 68 per cent possession but only four shots on goal, and they now head into a tough clash against Group 3 leaders Spain on Wednesday after the World Cup winners mounted an impressive late comeback to beat Belgium 3-2 to top the group.
Wiegman: We have work to do ahead of Spain
England boss Sarina Wiegman speaking to ITV:
“It’s 1-1 so it doesn’t matter. I hoped to come for more and we played a good first half. We could have got more goals, that would’ve helped.
“Second half, they changed the shape and we had to adapt.
“We hoped to keep the ball better but we want to do it better next time. They brought players on up front and we were figuring it out.
“We could’ve done better, we know that. Unfortunately we couldn’t get another goal.
“I’m just thinking about next Wednesday. We have work to do, Spain will be a tough game.”
More to follow…