England Women: Patience is the key to victory against Iceland in the World Cup qualifiers

It was Alessia Russo who provided England’s second goal two minutes into the second half against Ukraine, and the Arsenal striker – who plays the role of No.9 for the Lionesses rather than her more isolated role at her club – is likely to be the woman tasked with doing the same against Iceland.

Iceland lost 3-0 to Spain on Tuesday but frustrated the world champions until the 39th minute in Castellon.

“We knew we were controlling the ball and we wanted to be aggressive in the final third,” Rousseau told BBC 5 Live, speaking about the first half against Ukraine. “They also defended well, and then spaces opened up.

“Scoring early in the second half was important. It allowed us to play with more freedom so we want to use that tough advantage going forward.

“As long as we do our job with counter-pressing and create chances, it generates confidence. If the goal comes in the first 10 minutes or in the last 10 minutes, it doesn’t matter. We know we can change games in a matter of moments.”

“They are a very strong team,” Wegman said of Iceland. “They are very disciplined, very physical, very direct, and have great speed.

“We’ve seen some of their previous performances, specifically against Spain. We think we’ll have a lot of possession but it will also be difficult to break down their defence.”

Only the winner of Group A3 will qualify directly for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, and it has been widely described as a battle between European champions England and world champions Spain for that place.

But Wegman flatly refused to underestimate Iceland, which has qualified for the last five European Championships but has never reached the Women’s World Cup finals.

“We’re not talking about Spain at all right now, we’re only talking about Iceland,” she said.

“We know it will be a very difficult game tomorrow. They are difficult to beat and we have to be at our highest level.”