Arsenal striker Beth Mead scored a superb hat-trick in 14 minutes as England Women secured one of the comfortable football scores of World Cup qualifying. England dominated the match and hit the post twice but could not breach the resilient Northern Ireland defense. Beth Mead and Beth England were brought on on the hour mark and proved to be the difference. The former broke the deadlock less than a minute after coming on with the latter doubling their advantage two minutes later. Mead then scored her second and third goals within two minutes of each other on a historic day at Wembley.
Match Reaction
England Manager Sarina Wiegman: “I’m very happy, of course, with this score and how we were on the pitch. These are hard games because they were defending hard the whole game and it was very tight,” she added. “You have to just stay patient and all the players that came on made a difference, so that’s very nice. The substitutes brought us more energy and pushed us higher on the pitch. I think it was [Mead’s] the first touch, and it wasn’t even an easy one from the corner! It was so nice to score the goal and I’m impressed by this team, our team.”
Man of the match Beth Mead: “I can’t put [my emotions] into words – to score a goal at Wembley is genuinely an amazing feeling, to put the shirt on and score for this country.” she added. “To come away with a hat-trick is a special feeling and I’m glad to help the girls get the three points today. The manager just told me to go out there and make a difference, so hopefully, I did that today.”
For more football scores, click here
