World Cup Report: England 1 - 0 Denmark

England are through to the knockout stages of the Women’s World Cup thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over Denmark in Sydney on Friday. 

A first-half wondergoal from Lauren James was all the Lionesses needed to grab all three points and make it two wins from two at the tournament. 

Celebrations were muted at full-time and the atmosphere evidently darkened after influential midfielder Keira Walsh was stretchered off in the first half, with what is feared to be another cruciate knee ligament injury. 

Sarina Wiegman made two changes to the side that claimed an underwhelming 1-0 win over Haiti last week, swapping Lauren Hemp and Jess Carter out for James and Rachel Daly.

The latter slotted in at left-back, despite scoring 30 goals in 30 appearances for Aston Villa last season, but her defensive duties paid dividends in England’s European Championship campaign last year, so Weigman took the chance. 

Denmark sit nine places below the Lionesses in the FIFA world rankings, and their coach Lars Sondergaard had recently described their opponents as a “superpower”, so this was always going to be a tough test. 

It’s the Danes’ first World Cup appearance in 16 years and they had gotten off to a good start with a 1-0 win over China. 

More than one third of the squad play their football in the Women’s Super League in England so they had their homework done going into this fixture.

England had not scored from open play in over five hours ahead of this clash but that changed just six minutes in when James sent in a rocket from 20 yards to make it 1-0.

The Chelsea forward found herself in plenty of space in the middle before Daly played in a perfect pass from the left. James collected, sidestepped, and curled the ball cleanly into the net.

From there, England’s play was intense and Denmark found it impossible to get out of their own penalty area while their opponents showed off their confidence. 

Chloe Kelly attempted an overhead kick before James took an awkward shin to a Lucy Bronze pass but both efforts went wide as England looked threatening. 

Suddenly, Denmark found themselves in possession as England produced a sloppy spell with 25 minutes on the clock.

Rikke Madsen, Janni Thomsen and star striker Pernille Harder all had efforts on goal in quick succession as England struggled to tighten up at the back.

They looked dangerous on the counter but England got their composure back as Bronze almost headed in a second from a Kelly corner.

The game took an unfortunate turn with ten minutes of the half to play when Barcelona’s Walsh was forced off the pitch in tears after catching her studs in the ground.

The injury clearly had an effect on England’s play and it was a low-key finish to the end of the half.

Weigman would have been keen to boost her players’ mentality during her half-time team talk and, despite such a massive setback, there was still work to do.

Within minutes, Ella Toone almost had the ball in the net from a corner kick but the final touch let her down.

Kelly then had a determined run through the middle, with James to her left, but the pass to her teammate was unconvincing and Denmark had it covered. 

England appeared a bit out of shape and struggled to squeeze the gaps in the midfield, prompting the Danes to take a run towards goal when in possession. 

Katherine Kuhl took a chance with a low shot but it didn’t pay off as England scrambled to tighten the space. 

Chances were in short supply from there as Weigman’s side struggled to be composed in front of goal and were without a shot on target since the 22nd minute of play going into the final quarter.

With 20 minutes left on the clock, Bronze produced a powerful header and Russo tried to blast one in from the left but both efforts flew wide.

Both sides made changes, including the introduction of Bethany England, who helped secure Tottenham’s top-flight safety in the WSL last season with 12 goals following a move from Chelsea in January.

The striker found herself in a great position to head the ball towards goal in the middle of the box but her late effort went wide and it proved to be the last real chance to kill off the game.

But a win sees England safely through to the knockouts with a game against China to spare, while Denmark will need a result against Haiti next Tuesday to ensure their place in the next round.

England Women: Mary Earps; Millie Bright, Lucia Bronze, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood; Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone (Lauren Hemp 76), Keira Walsh (Laura Coombs 38); Lauren James, Chloe Kelly, Alessia Russo (Bethany England 76).

Subs not used: Hannah Hampton, Ellie Roebuck, Niamh Charles, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Jordan Nobbs, Katie Zelem, Esme Morgan, Jessica Carter, Katie Robinson.

Denmark Women: Lene Christensen; Stine Ballisager (Frederikke Thogersen 77), Simone Boye Sorensen, Rikke Sevecke, Katrine Veje; Josefine Hasbo (Amalie Vangsgaard 70), Karen Holmgaard (Sanne Troelsgaard 87), Katherine Kuhl; Pernille Harder, Rikke Madsen (Nicoline Sorensen 76), Janni Thomsen.

Subs not used: Maja Bay, Kathrine Larsen, Sofie Svava, Sara Thrige, Emma Snerle, Signe Bruun, Mille Gejl, Luna Gevitz.

Referee: Tess Olofsson (Sweden).

Attendance: 40,439.

extratime.com Player of the Match: Lucy Bronze (England).

Lauren James makes an immediate impact on her first #WWC2023 start to give England an early lead against Denmark.

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— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 28, 2023