Spain overwhelm England while Germany secure place in Women's World Cup finals

As the leading sides from each of the four A groups progress automatically, Germany's 2-0 victory handed them an unbeatable four-point advantage over Norway in Group A4, with one match remaining. Meanwhile, Spain and England are both tied on 12 points at the summit of Group A3.

England's aspirations of clinching a place by winning in Mallorca were rapidly extinguished, as Patri Guijarro handed the Spanish the advantage in the 19th minute and Alexia Putellas doubled the lead before half-time.

England seemed powerless to halt the Spanish momentum, as Putellas added her second goal ten minutes into the second half and Claudio Pina sealed the victory with a finish from a magnificent Aitana Bonmati pass, making the score 4-0.

England still have an opportunity to qualify automatically, but they must achieve a stronger result when they host Ukraine next Tuesday than Spain obtain in their concluding match away to Iceland.

Drama unfolded late in Group A2 when Ireland's Amber Barrett scored in the 90th minute to secure a 3-2 home victory against the Netherlands, lifting them above the Dutch into second position in the group, one point adrift of leaders France, who defeated Poland 2-0.

Ireland face France in their last match in Grenoble, while the Netherlands host Poland.

Earlier, Pernille Harder emerged from the substitutes' bench and netted the decisive goal for Denmark as they defeated their neighbours Sweden 2-1, extinguishing the Swedes' chances of automatic qualification.

Denmark lead Group A1 with 11 points before their last fixture against bottom-placed Serbia, while Italy, who sit in second place three points adrift of the top, are next to host Sweden.