What Team GB need from "strange" England clash to keep Olympic hopes alive

05 December 2023 , 11:00

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Team GB players ahead of the Women's Quarter Final match against Australia at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Image: Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)

Anyone but England? Maybe not this time.

If Team GB hopes to reach next summer's Olympic Games in Paris, they must first rely on England defeating Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday night in order to keep those hopes alive.

The Lionesses are the nominated nation when it comes to Olympic qualification for the home nations. Thus, for Team GB to spend next summer in Paris, England must reach the Nations League final - or semi-final if Olympic hosts Paris reach the final.

To reach the competition's last four, it's paramount that the Lionesses finish top of Group A1. Following the dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over the Netherlands on Friday, England sit second in the group behind the Dutch on goal difference.

Should Sarina Wiegman's side defeat Scotland on home soil on Tuesday and the Netherlands drop points to Belgium, passage to the Nations League semi-finals would be secure and Team GB would be one step away from Olympic qualification.

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However, if the Netherlands defeat Belgium, England must defeat Scotland by a sweeping margin to overcome the Netherland's superior goal difference (England trail by three). Therefore, should the Netherlands beat Belgium 1-0, the Lionesses would need to beat Scotland by four goals to advance on goals scored.

England defeated Scotland 2-1 in the first Nations League fixture, with goals from Lucy Bronze and Lauren Hemp doing enough to negate Kirsty Hanson's strike.

Andries Jonker of Netherlands admitted the scenario on the final day was a strange one (Photo by Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Netherlands boss Andries Jonker dubbed England's final Nations League clash with Scotland "strange" given the consequential nature of its outcome, even going so far as to question the sporting integrity of placing two home nations into the same competing Nations League group given the inherent conflict of interests.

“When the draw was made I said to the players the only thing we can do is keep this in our hands. Straight away, it was annoying, but it wasn’t going to change," he said.

However, Wiegman, who will take charge of Team GB should they qualify, was unequivocal in her belief that Scotland would not throw away an opportunity to defeat England, particularly at Hampden Park.

"I understand those conversations," said Wiegman. "But if you have seen our group, if you have seen Scotland (performances) and if you know the history between Scotland and England, there's no way they are going to give away this game.

"They really want to beat England. And we really want to beat them of course. There is such a rivalry, that this is not going to be the case. We saw that in England (the first game) and that is what it is going to be."

Scotland versus England kicks off at 7:45pm from Hampden Park.

Megan Feringa