An easy victory for the United States of America and Japan, and England with difficulty

Group E

USA – Vietnam 3:0

The United States, the defending champion, began its journey towards achieving a title hat-trick with a 3-0 victory over newly arrived World Cup winners Vietnam. The winner of a one-sided match is dual scorer Sophia Smith.

With her goals before the break, the 22-year-old striker laid the foundation for the 2015 and 2019 world champions' easy victory in the opening match, and after the break, Lindsay Horan made it 3-0.

The score could have been much higher if the oppressively superior Americans had not made such a mistake in the final. Shortly before half-time, Alex Morgan failed from the penalty spot.

It was the sixth penalty kick in the sixth match since the start of the World Cup, and only two of them have been scored – including Ramona Bachmann's spot-kick in Switzerland's 2-0 win over the Philippines.

Group C

Zambia – Japan 0:5

Thanks to a penalty kick scored in stoppage time, Japan also achieved an easy win in the first match, among other things. The 2011 world champion excelled in defeating Zambia 5-0 and took the lead in Group C against Spain (3-0 against Costa Rica on Friday).

Group D

England 1-0 Haiti

In the third confrontation of the day between a newcomer to the World Cup and a major player, the European champions from England achieved a difficult victory over Haiti with a score of 1-0. In the final stretch, English goalkeeper Mary Earps prevented an equalizer with a brilliant save and thus a false start in the fourth set.

Georgie Stanway celebrates the winning goal.Image: Cornerstone

Georgia Stanway scored the winner after half an hour from a handy penalty which was converted at the second attempt – improving the scorers' share. The Bayern Munich midfielder's first attempt was blocked by Haitian goalkeeper Curly Theus, but he moved off the goal line early, which is why the penalty kick had to be repeated.

Denmark – China 1-0

The second match in Group D between Denmark and China ended 1-0. Amalie Vangsgaard scored the winning goal in the 90th minute with a header from 13 meters after a corner kick from Pernille Harder. It was Denmark's only shot on target in the match earmarked for second place behind favorites England.

The Danes celebrate the winning goal.Image: Cornerstone

(seda)