Sarina Wiegman was lost for words. After winning the Euros in 2022 and reaching the World Cup final in 2023, there will be no Nations League finals for the Lionesses in 2024, no Olympic Games for Team GB in Paris next summer. England’s remarkable win over Scotland was soon followed by glum faces on the Hampden pitch. Wiegman was directing right-back Lucy Bronze throughout the second half, updating the Lionesses on what they needed to top Group A1. They thought one more goal would be enough and Bronze found it with her late header - but then the news came through that the Netherlands had scored another.
It turned the Nations League group in a moment, denying England a place in the semi-finals and with it, Team GB of the chance to field a team in Paris. From the joy of the Euros and a successful World Cup campaign, the Lionesses were left in a huddle on the Hampden pitch contemplating a different sort of heartbreak: in terms of falling short of expectations, it is England’s first low point under Wiegman. But the dramatic conclusion to the Nations League finale and the contrasting emotions were difficult to process. “I said [to them] I actually don’t know what to say,” Wiegman revealed. “We delivered tonight, but it wasn’t enough.”
