Here is an example elaborating on Havenard’s comment above:
<svg width="500" height="250">
<defs>
<clipPath id="circleView">
<circle cx="250" cy="125" r="125" fill="#FFFFFF" />
</clipPath>
</defs>
<image
width="500"
height="250"
xlink:href="https://www.amrita.edu/sites/default/files/news-images/new/news-events/images/l-nov/grass.jpg"
clip-path="url(#circleView)"
/>
</svg>
You don’t actually draw a <circle>
element with an image inside – instead, define a circular clip path, and set it as the ‘clip-path’ attribute on the <image>
tag.