While the score line is not what you would expect for England the all-important three points come at a crucial time. They now sit top of the group separated by three points from Spain. As only the country at the top of the group automatically qualifies for the 2027 World Cup the margins are tiny.
A 1-0 victory against Iceland puts them in a stronger position than Spain when they go to Mallorca in June and host Ukraine in Liverpool.
The lineup changed with Lotte Wubben-Moy dropping to the bench for the return of her club teammate and captain Leah Williamson. Who returns from a thigh injury not playing for Arsenal since March. With many gunners being frustrated that Sarina Wiegman, the England manager, decided to play Williamson due to her injury-prone season. Lucia Kendall, who missed a sitter against Spain was replaced by Laura Blindkilde Brown. That midfield change was purely tactical, saying more attacking presence was needed in tight spaces.
It was definitely a game of two halves. England dominated possession with over 70% in the first half and 34 touches in the opposition box to Iceland's two. Despite control like in the first leg between these two sides they created limited clear chances.
The only goal came when Iceland were dispossessed, allowing Lauren Hemp to break forward and set up Alessia Russo, who finished low into the corne—aA switch around from the Spain game. Russo has now scored her 30th goal for her country.
As expected Williamson's minutes were limited, with a half-time substitute seeing Wubben Moy come in.
The second half was very different. Iceland started strongly with set-piece pressure. England introduced Beth MMead and Jess Park to inject control and creativity, with Mead nearly doubling the lead, but denied by the goalkeeper.
There came a big shift:,: England began to lose control and was pushed back under sustained Icelandic pressure. This is where Hannah Hnapton, who did not have much work to do in the first half, was called upon.
The three points were given by the clinical nature of Hampton with her athleticism and quick reactions. She pulled off three crucial saves late on as Iceland pushed for an equaliser.
"It's my job isn't it really? We are in it as a team. I can't be the one scoring goals, but I can stop them," Hampton told ITV afterwards.
While she now has back-to-back clean sheets to take home to boost her confidence again after a rocky few games for clubs, there is still room for improvement. She fumbled several crosses and was not convincing on set-pieces. She almost dropped the ball into the path of Sveindis Jonsdottir late on, too, but rescued it just in time to spare her blushes.
But there was no downplaying by England manager Sarina Wiegman, who said Hampton's saves against Iceland were "crucial" to securing the victory.
"It is always a team effort and a team performance, but it's really nice to have a goalkeeper that stops the ball going in - especially when it's really hard for the team, and they are struggling," added Wiegman.
"That's called teamwork. She showed again that she is a world-class goalkeeper."
Arsenal striker Russo added: "She was amazing. Big moments kept us in it, and she showed up three or four times to get us the three points.
"Sometimes you need someone to step up like that."
She made multiple saves - a close-range stop from Sandra Jessen, a rebound save from Dija Zomers, a save from Alexandra Johannsdottir and more.
"As always, we play to win. We have played four, have 12 points and are in the best possible position, so that's absolutely positive," said Wiegman.
"But you want to make the chance of winning the next game high,too. We just have to stay neutral. It's focusing on the process - but winning is very important.
"The second half wasn't so beautiful from our side, but it was very important,"
Wiegman said there were several factors for England's second-half display, including difficult pitch conditions and their struggles at set-pieces.
Asked why she believed England's control loosened in the second half, she said: "The tempo could have gone higher, which is a little hard on this pitch. We also know Iceland is very tough, very disciplined and powerful.
"We did very well in the first half, and in the second half we just didn't start well. From what I saw, I will have to talk to the team as well, of course, but we started doing different things.
"They started pressing higher, and we didn't skip players; we played a little too much through the middle, where the pitch was harder. The shape was different to what we wanted it to be, and we played a little bit into their hands.
"They got momentum back and we just had to fight to defend their corners and throw-ins. We struggled with that, but we fought, and we got over the line."
While England scrapped the win and remained top of their qualifying group the performance was less controlled than expected despite the result. Iceland’s organisation caused problems, especially in the second half.
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