Paris (France) (AFP) - European champions England made a winning start to their bid for automatic qualification for the 2027 Women’s World Cup as they hammered Ukraine 6-1 in Antalya, Turkey, on Tuesday.

Ukraine has been unable to host games since the Russian invasion in 2022.

Security issues were raised prior to the game following the outbreak of war in the Middle East although England manager Sarina Wiegman said prior to the match that “England have been given reassurances on safety concerns”.

Laura Blindkilde Brown hit the bar in a goalless first half but the double European champions only found the net early in the second half when Arsenal striker Alessia Russo scored twice in the space of four minutes.

Yana Kalinina pulled one back just before the hour for Ukraine but England, who were wearing black armbands in tribute to former Lioness Lynda Hale who died last week, immediately moved up a gear.

Georgia Stanway, who was outstanding throughout, then scored twice in the space of six minutes, the first from the penalty spot, and Jess Park also netted a brace in the closing minutes.

“I wouldn’t say (I had) tough words (at half-time),” Wiegman told ITV.

“We put a lot of effort in, we played the way we wanted to. We just wanted to score more goals. We need to do that better.”

England’s biggest rivals for direct qualification from European Group A3 to the World Cup in Brazil are world champions Spain who kicked off with a 3-0 win over Iceland in Castellon de la Plana.

Barcelona striker Claudia Pina scored twice before Bayern’s Edna Imade, who came on as a substitute at the start of the second half, completed the scoring with her first international goal.

- Malard saves France -

Two-time World Cup winners Germany took a grip on Group A4 by thrashing Slovenia 5-0 in Dresden.

Vivien Endemann and Elisa Senss put the Germans 2-0 up within 11 minutes but they had to wait until the start of the second half for more.

Linda Dallmann and Larissa Muehlhaus, on her debut, doubled the score with Manchester United’s Lea Schueller adding a fifth.

In the other game in the group 1995 champions Norway won 1-0 in Austria.

In Group A2, Melvine Malard came on as a substitute and rescued France with two quick goals as they came from a goal down to beat Ireland 2-1 in Tallaght.

Katie McCabe swept the ball home in the 12th minute to give the hosts a surprise lead and they held the French at bay until Manchester United striker Malard scored in the 71st minute just moments after coming on.

Eight minutes later Malard pounced again to put France in front. Denise O’Sullivan almost levelled for the Irish with a rasping drive in added time but Marie-Antoinette Katoto headed off the line to secure the three points.

In the other game, Poland and the Netherlands drew 2-2 in Gdansk.

Denmark made an impressive start in Group A1 with a 3-1 home win over Serbia while Real Madrid midfielder Filippa Angeldal scored the only goal in Sweden’s 1-0 win in Italy.

Only the winners of each of the four European ‘League A’ groups will qualify automatically. The other 12 teams go into play-offs which will also involve the four League B group winners and the six group winners and two best runners-up from League C.