England suffer narrow defeat to France in opener

England suffered an early blow as they were comfortably beaten 1-0 by France in their opening game of the Women's World Cup in Moncton.

The Lionesses set up to contain a vibrant French forward line and they frustrated their opponents in the early exchanges until some sloppy play gave Eugenie Le Sommer the space to turn and rasp a 20-yard thunderbolt into the corner.

England came into the clash as underdogs against the side ranked third in the world and struggled to create for long spells with Eniola Aluko starved of service in a lone striker role.

Mark Sampson's side didn't have a shot on target until the second half and although the coach changed tactics by bringing on forwards Toni Duggan and Fran Kirby, they never looked capable of unlocking the French defence.

Despite the defeat England remain one of the favourites to progress in Group F and will look to bounce back when they meet Mexico in Moncton on June 13.

Pre-match: Coach Mark Sampson has opted for a 4-5-1 system with defender, Lucy Bronze deployed on the left side of midfield in an attempt to nullify the threat of France's explosive right winger, Elodie Thomis. Eni Aluko starts up front. Meanwhile, Gaetane Thiney is preferred to Marie Laure Delie in France's attack. The latter has netted 58 times in 86 matches for her country.

9' - FRANCE CHANCE! England only half clear and when the right-wing cross is fired into the middle Camille Abily rises to head a yard or so wide. The Lionesses almost caught out there.

22' - FRANCE CHANCE! England fail to deal with a long throw from the right and Williams does well to get out and deflect Le Sommer's volleyed attempt wide.

29' - GOAL! ENGLAND 1-0 FRANCE. France lead! England lose the ball deep in their own half and Le Sommer pounces, picking up possession and rasping a rising effort beyond Bardsley from 20 yards.

40' - ENGLAND CHANCE! A delivery from the right causes confusion in the France area. Sarah Bouhaddi comes to punch clear and is caught way off her line, but Katie Chapman can only stab her 20-yard attempt over under pressure.

41' - FRANCE CHANCE! England get lucky as a flowing move down the right sees Houara get to the byline and overcook a cross as she is caught by a late challenge. Could easily have been a penalty!

55' - FRANCE CHANCE! Houara hovers outside the England area and picks a pass to Le Sommer as she peels off her marker. It's an instinctive first-time effort but it flashes over the crossbar.

56' - ENGLAND CHANCE! England have their first effort on target! A clever low corner from Aluko is driven towards Jill Scott who stabs an effort towards goal that Bouhaddi is right behind.

70' - FRANCE CHANCE! Abily sees a goalbound shot deflect wide after initially appearing to lead with an arm in an aerial challenge with Bassett.

90' - ENGLAND CHANCE! Aluko seizes upon a lucky ricochet but blazes well wide with a first-time effort from 25 yards.

England failed to record a single shot on target in the first half.

England lost for the first time in eight WWC group games.

The Lionesses have not beaten France since 1974.

(Stats courtesy of Opta and Infostrada)

England need to express themselves in attack. Mark Sampson set his side out to thwart France and it worked well in the early exchanges until Eugenie Le Sommer pounced. The Lionesses probably showed their opponent too much respect and didn't have a shot on target until well into the second half. With attacking talent like Aluko, Duggan and Kirby they have the weapons to hurt lesser opponents and while you'd expect them to be too strong for Colombia and Mexico, the coach needs to re-think his strategy at the start of games if they reach the knockout stage.

Eugenie Le Sommer (France). Struck the winner and was the only player who looked likely to score again throughout a tight game in which France were always comfortable.

ENGLAND: Bardsley 6, Scott 6, Rafferty 7, Williams 6, Houghton 7, Bassett 7, Scott 6, Aluko 6, Bronze 7, Chapman 6, White 6. Subs: Duggan 6, Kirby 6, Moore 5.

FRANCE: Bouhaddi 6, Renard 7, Boulleau 7, Georges 7, Henry 7, Houara 7, Le Sommer 8, Abily 7, Thomis 6, Necib 7, Thiney 6. Subs: Dali 6, Bussaglia 5, Lavogez n/a.