Sarina Wiegman picked Hannah Hampton, Lucy Bronze and Lauren James in the line-up alongside Walsh, while Niamh Charles was named on the bench.

England made a bright start and went ahead after only three minutes, after some determined work from Lauren James on the left-hand side. Although LJ drew two markers along with her, she managed to win a corner which was swung in by Alex Greenwood.

Alessia Russo somehow flicked the ball on through a crowd of Spain shirts, before Lauren Hemp's shot crossed the line despite Alexia Putellas' efforts to keep it out, and goal-line technology confirmed the decision.

The Lionesses were fortunate not to concede early in the second half when Olga Carmona struck the crossbar, while Hampton and Bronze worked tirelessly to keep Vicky Lopez out between them as Spain's chances to equalise kept coming.

Chloe Kelly replaced James after 81 minutes as Spain continued to push forward. Hampton came up with a huge save in the final minute of normal time, pushing Edna Imade's header from point-blank range around the post and out for a corner.

While Spain had thrown everything at the home side during the second half, England held firm to take top spot in Group A3 with a three-point lead over La Roja. Wiegman's side will now face Iceland away from home on Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, Germany head coach Christian Wuck selected Blues midfielder Sjoeke Nusken to start in Nuremberg in their World Cup qualifying match against Austria.

It was a resounding 5-1 win for the home side, thanks to strikes from Nicole Anyomi, Vivien Endemann, Jule Brand, Lea Schuller and a Sarah Puntigam own goal. Germany have taken maximum points from their opening qualifying matches and will now travel to Austria to face the same side once more on Saturday.

Over in Sweden, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd was named on the bench but did not feature as Tony Gustavsson's side succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Denmark.

Livia Peng was named in goal for Switzerland as they hosted Turkiye at the Stadion Letzigrund. A brace from Aurelie Csillag and a further strike from Viola Calligaris secured a 3-1 victory for Peng and her team-mates, who will face the same opponents away from home on Saturday.

At the Rat Verlegh Stadion in Breda, Chelsea's Veerle Buurman and Wieke Kaptein went up against club team-mate Sandy Baltimore when the Netherlands hosted France.

It was the Oranje who took the lead through debutant Renee van Asten, but were pegged back in the 54th minute through a Daphne van Domselaar own goal.

Esmee Brugts swung the game back in the Netherlands' favour with a right-footed effort, and this time, France had no reply as Arjan Veurink's team held out for the 2-1 victory. The two sides will face each other once more in Auxerre on Saturday evening.

Erin Cuthbert made her 85th appearance for Scotland when she was named in the starting XI against Belgium at Easter Road. Scotland had made a good start to their qualifying campaign when they recorded 5-0 and 7-0 victories over Luxembourg in their opening two games.

Yet they went behind after a quarter of an hour against Belgium when Sari Kees found the back of the net, but never gave up hope of an equaliser and when Lauren Davidson played the ball across the face of the goal, Kathleen McGovern was in the right place to tap home in the 95th minute.

The 1-1 draw was the least that Scotland deserved after a dominant performance, and they will have the opportunity to put that right when they face Belgium again away from home on Saturday.

Finally, Canada recorded a 3-1 win over South Korea in Brazil in the 2026 FIFA series, an invitational friendly tournament between teams from different continental confederations. After playing 76 minutes in the previous 4-0 victory over Zambia, Kadeisha Buchanan was an unused substitute on this occasion.

The Canadians will face Brazil in the final round of the competition on Sunday.