England women beat Spain 2-1 in World Cup warm-up match

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:24 am
England celebrate during the International Friendly between England Women and Spain Women
England celebrate during the International Friendly between England Women and Spain Women
Alex Davidson/Getty Images

England women beat Spain 2-1 in their 2019 World Cup warm-up match in Swindon.

Arsenal's Beth Mead netted the opener before half-time and, just 40 seconds after the break, Ellen White made it 2-0.

Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati hit back but England held firm and defended well to bounce back from their defeat to Canada on Friday.

England coach Phil Neville made nine changes to the team that lost to Canada.

"We made that many changes in the second half that we lost our rhythm, but I made those changes because I wanted us to see out a game," he told the BBC.

"If you get to a quarter-final or semi-final you're not going to win games easily. I wanted to see how we were going to cope. I was disappointed a little bit with our composure.

"I've rotated and given everyone a chance now and now it's time to get into World Cup mode.

"I thought Jill Scott was unbelievable all night. She gave us composure in the final third and that's what we were looking for. We didn't have that against Canada."

England take on Denmark and New Zealand in friendly games before their first World Cup group game against Scotland on June 9.