The Lionesses went into the match at the top of qualifying group Group A3, but struggled against a dominant Spanish side in Mallorca.

Patri Guijarro fired the hosts ahead after 19 minutes before Alexia Putellas struck twice either side of the break and Claudia Pina came off the bench to complete a ruthless display.

Spain leapfrogged England to the summit and both teams are now level on 12 points going into Tuesday’s matches.

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Reflecting on the game, Wiegman told ITV: “Indeed, a very difficult night. I think the difference tonight between Spain and England was big.

“We weren’t at our best – although I thought we started well – but when they got into a rhythm and they got their first goal, I think we just didn’t play to our strengths too much and they played really well.

“That showed the difference tonight. That indeed is very disappointing.

“It also has to do with a very good Spain tonight, that’s never an excuse that you lose 4-0.

“We started well, we wanted to harm them in the back and in the first half especially after those first minutes that we started well, we played short, we played back all the time and that played to their strengths a little bit.

“We harmed ourselves because we lost the ball a couple of times more where they got chances but we should have skipped players, we wanted to get in the pockets or in behind them.

“We just didn’t get there and when we did we found it really hard to keep the ball. I think that has to do with us, it also has to do with the strength of Spain at this moment.”

With captain Leah Williamson ruled out through injury, Keira Walsh skippered England and expressed her frustrations after the game.

“I just think there was a lot of areas we weren’t good enough tonight,” Walsh told ITV.

“Spain played incredibly well at home and made it very difficult for us. When we look back there’s a lot of things we could have done better.”

Direct qualification for next year’s tournament in Brazil now comes down to games on Tuesday.

The Lionesses host Ukraine – who are yet to pick up a point – at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, while Spain face Iceland, who only have six points accumulated from wins against Ukraine.

Looking ahead, Wiegman said: “Let’s first win our game ourselves and see what they do. We just have to step up again and play a good game on Tuesday and win.”

Walsh admitted all England can do now is control their own performance against Ukraine.

“We’ve still got a small chance to qualify in the next game,” the midfielder said.

“It’s out of our hands. All we can do is try and win the next game and hope that Iceland can do us a favour. We know it’s out of our hands, but all we can do is control how we play in the next game.”