England fightback falls short as Belgium earn Nations League win

England slumped to 3-2 defeat to Belgium in Leuven in the Nations League in what was a very different performance to the 5-0 win secured in Bristol on Friday, as The Lionesses suffered their first loss of the campaign.

Tessa Wullaert caused all sort of problems for the Lionesses and was involved in all three of Belgium's goals. She scored within the opening four minutes, after missing out in the reverse fixture on Friday where England triumphed.

Wullaert then assisted Justine Vanhaevermaet's goal in the 15th minute before adding a third just shy of the half hour mark. It is the second time in six months that England have conceded three goals in the opening 30 minutes, after a similar situation saw the Lionesses lose 4-3 to Germany in October.

England did manage to pull one back via Beth Mead who won a penalty and then converted from the spot, but the damage was already done.

"We started too slow. They were very quick," England captain Leah Williamson said. "You expect that after the result from the other day. But we needed to figure it out a little bit quicker and we didn't, and just small tweaks. We didn't damage them with the ball in the first half that we did in the previous game."

The visitors lacked cohesion and precision in front of goal. In defence, their lack of composure allowed Belgium to slide through with ease.

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Michelle Agyemang, who was part of the under-19 team that qualified for the youth Euros over the weekend, was called up to replace the injured Alessia Russo. The 19-year-old scored within 41 seconds of being introduced from the bench in the 81st minute. It was an exceptional strike from the Arsenal forward, on loan at Brighton, bringing the ball down by her thigh and volleying it past Lisa Lichtfus in goal.

The last time England faced Belgium in Leuven was during the inaugural Nations League in 2023 where the Lionesses also lost to the hosts 3-2. Despite sitting 20th in the FIFA rankings (England are fourth), the Lionesses have failed to beat the Red Flames in their backyard since 2016. They drew 2-2 all in 2019.

The performance was a far cry from the comfortable victory on Friday where England cruised past a passive Belgium.

Ella Toone, who was dropped to the bench, had a last ditch effort on goal in stoppage-time, but it was not enough to salvage a point. The scrappy end to the game reflected England's frustrations with their lacklustre performance.

Manager Sarina Wiegman is navigating a whole host of injuries -- Russo and Lauren James pulled out of the squad following last week's game -- but the side are already without Georgia Stanway, Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp, all due to knee injuries. Chloe Kelly also withdrew from the squad last week ahead of the game at Wembley on Friday.

Asked if the result felt like a major step back, Williamson said: "No. No, no, no. Disappointing. Really, really disappointing. There's a lot of frustration, but we have two more games to go. We've just made it a lot harder for ourselves than it would've been if we picked up a win today. But I think we should be winning. We should be winning this game. That's why we're frustrated."

The Lionesses were leading their group heading into the evening, following a draw with Portugal and wins over Spain and Belgium respectively, but have squandered their top spot, now sitting second.