The offensive festival of the English, Tuesday in Scotland (6-0), was not enough to take first place in the group in the Netherlands, qualified for the semi-finals of the League of Nations thanks to a better goal difference, and therefore still in the running for the 2024 Olympics.
The Dutch obtained at the end of the suspense, against Belgium (4-0), the qualification for the final tournament of the League of Nations, where they will try in February to obtain a ticket for the Olympic Games in Paris against the Germany, Spain or France, automatically qualified.
The hope of a British qualification (selection of English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish players), placed in the hands of the England team, flew away in Scotland, where the “Lionesses” were to win in scoring three more goals than the Netherlands.
At Hampden Park, the European champions and vice-world champions thought they had done the essential by sealing a clear victory with a final goal from Lucy Bronze in added time (90th 3, 6-0), two minutes after a decisive save from their goalkeeper Mary Earps.
But the Dutch, with the same total points (12 pts in six matches) retained their first place by scoring two goals also in added time, by Lyon midfielder Damaris Egurrola (90th 1, 90th 5).
In the end, the qualification was decided by one goal. The English, dejected by this cruel scenario, learned it on the pitch in Glasgow, after having waited nervously for the other meeting to end in Tilburg.
There will therefore be no British selection during the next Olympic football tournament. The English Hopes obtained qualification by winning the Under-21 Euro last summer, but no agreement was reached with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish federations.
