England did almost everything right in their qualifying group, winning five of their six matches, including the victory over Spain at Wembley in April.
They also scored 13 goals, conceded just five – four of which came against Spain – and kept four clean sheets.
But it is not easy to qualify automatically and England were given a rough draw with world champions Spain in their group. The quest for top spot was always likely to come down to their head-to-head record.
That is what happened as England ultimately missed out because they were thumped in Majorca.
That humbling defeat – which showed the gulf between the two teams when Spain are at their best – was their downfall.
Wiegman opted for experience in the starting XI against Spain. Despite not featuring for England since October, and only returning from a four-month injury in April, midfielder Ella Toone was given the nod over Lucia Kendall and Laura Blindkilde Brown.
Chelsea’s Lucy Bronze started at right-back despite an injury in the build-up to the game.
In the end, England’s midfielders were too passive and easily controlled by Spain, while the usually explosive frontline of Alessia Russo, Lauren Hemp and Lauren James proved ineffective.
At the back, England struggled to live with Spain’s creativity and dynamism, with only Esme Morgan impressing in a generally dismal performance.
England’s sloppiness was compounded by the fact Spain produced one of their best performances to date and Wiegman could not come up with an answer for it.
Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live this week that she is “absolutely convinced” England can match Spain at their best if they are to meet again next year.
But that one crucial defeat showed just how difficult it is for England to qualify for major tournaments and why they cannot afford an ‘off day’ against the best teams.
“We have mixed feelings, of course. We were very disappointed with the way the game went [against Spain],” said midfielder Georgia Stanway, a scorer on Tuesday along with Jess Carter and Beth Mead.
“It’s very rare that you get 15 points and still not make it out of the group. I think that it shows our level, our consistency, but we know our performance wasn’t good enough against Spain.”
Wiegman said it was a “good thing” that there is more competition throughout Europe but admitted it was tough to miss out on such fine margins.
“The Nations League brought more competition in Europe. I think that’s really nice. We also noticed we have to play Spain so many times,” she said.
“I was excited for this group to play Iceland as we hadn’t played them. It’s something for Uefa to have a look at, at least. The good thing is there is a lot of competition.”
