Mission accomplished, England’s thoughts turn to World Cup | Louise Taylor

Sarina Wiegman has reasons to be optimistic about England’s chances in Australia and New Zealand next summer

The fallout of a failed crusade led to Wiener Neustadt’s creation in 1194 but England will remember it as the place where their World Cup qualifying mission was accomplished.

Although the city’s 3,000-capacity stadium, an hour’s drive south of Vienna, seemed a slightly underwhelming setting for the Lionesses’ first match since winning Euro 2022 in front of nearly 90,000 fans at Wembley in July, it was perhaps a fitting venue. A settlement built with the ransom money paid by the English to secure King Richard I’s release after his capture by Duke Leopold of Austria as the Lionheart returned from a failed attempt to take Jerusalem certainly seemed an appropriate springboard for an impending attempt at global domination.