England wins first game of Women’s World Cup.

The European champions England defeated Haiti 1-0 on the strength of a Georgia Stanway penalty to start their Women’s World Cup title defence in a lacklustre manner.

Stanway’s 29th-minute penalty proved to be enough to just barely see off a tenacious Haitian team during the match at Brisbane Stadium in front of nearly 44,000 spectators, the majority of whom were cheering for England.

Haiti, which was competing in its first World Cup, was a strong underdog against England going into the game.

However, despite controlling play and possession, the Lionesses were unable to finish off Haiti and needed some heroics from custodian Mary Earps in the dying minutes to clinch the victory.

England is looking to add the World Cup to the European championship they won at Wembley last year. However, they have been involved in a disagreement with their football association over bonuses in the lead-up to the event.

Along with the host nation, the United States, they were the favourites entering the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

However, they will need to raise their game for their upcoming group matches against Denmark and China, both of whom are ranked higher than Haiti, who are ranked 53rd.

Sarina Wiegman, the head coach of England, said that Group D opponents Haiti, who entered the competition as a relative unknown, will pose a challenge.

The Dutch coach claimed, “We played a very hard game, and we were completely prepared.

But Haiti also performed exceptionally well. They were erratic, incredibly direct, and tremendously effective on the counterattack.

They were highly athletic and swift. With that kind of performance, I believe the other two nations are going to have a difficult time competing against them.

“In a pretty tough game, I’m just incredibly thrilled we got the win and got the first three points,” the player said.

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Because of the huge expectations at home, England were uneasy and made too many turnovers early on in the game in Brisbane.

Their front three were wreaking havoc in the Haiti box, and their midfield quickly started to dominate. The Lionesses were only held at bay by some hapless defence.

Eventually, a penalty—almost a regular occurrence at this World Cup—broke the scoreless tie in the 29th minute.

Following a review, the referee determined that forward Batcheba Louis’s leap with her hands in the air from a Chloe Kelly corner was illegal since the ball had just touched her fingertips.

Despite Kerly Theus’ stunning diving stop of Stanway’s original spot-kick high and to the left, the referee determined the custodian had crossed her line after further video review.

Stanway was flawless the second time, giving the Lionesses a lead that they nearly deserved.

The English appeared weak on the break despite their domination.

Melchie Dumornay, a fantastic midfielder for Haiti, had a great chance five minutes into the second half, but Earps made a fine stop on his powerful outside-the-box shot.

The game started to open up after England attempted to slow it down in the second half, giving Wiegman’s team multiple opportunities to score.

But when Roseline Eloissaint found herself one on one with Earps late in the game, her reluctance to seize their opportunities nearly came back to haunt them. Earps’ outstanding stop with her left leg prevented Haiti from scoring a shock point.