City’s Alex Greenwood, Laura Blinkilde Brown, Lauren Hemp and Beth Mead helped England move a step closer towards qualifying for next summer's World Cup.

Mead came off the bench while the other trio started as England won 3-1 in Greece in their play-off semi-final first leg.

The Lionesses dominated the match in Crete and were ahead before the break with Blinkilde Brown heavily involved in a neat move rounded off by Georgia Stanway midway through the first half.

Maya Le Tissier slammed in a second before Mead claimed an assist for a third from Alessia Russo before Greece scored a consolation.  

It means that England take a two-goal advantage back to Leicester City’s King Power Stadium for the second leg on Tuesday night.

The winner will face either Slovakia or Ukraine with the latter winning their first leg encounter 3-1 away from home.

They are not the only City players facing a crucial week as they try to secure a place at the 2027 tournament in Brazil.

Iman Beney was on target for Switzerland as their hopes  took a big boost with a 7-3 victory away to Israel.

After falling behind 2-1, the City winger levelled just before the break and four goals in the final 25 minutes gave the Swiss a comfortable margin of victory to set up a possible clash with the winners of Kosovo or Austria.

City defender Mayzee Davies helped Wales keep a clean sheet as they secured a 1-0 victory in Albania.

The Welsh have never qualified for a World Cup but have a slender advantage for their second leg in Llanelli aiming to secure a deciding tie with either Romania or Norway.

Eartha Cumings was an unused substitute as Scotland won 2-0 away to Czechia.

Don’t miss our UWCL home matches!

After an entertaining draw with Real Madrid, the UEFA Women’s Champions League returns to the Joie Stadium soon when Paris Saint-Germain come to town!

We’ll be going up against the French giants on Thursday 29 October at 20:00.

Tickets are on sale now from just £10, so make sure you grab yours as soon as possible!

Promotional banner for Manchester City's upcoming UEFA Women's Champions League matches against Real Madrid on October 10 and Paris Saint-Germain on October 29. Tickets available from £10.