Key events
62 min: England substitution Lauren James replaces Lauren Hemp, who wasn’t at her scintillating best.
61 min “I want an Earps goalie shirt even more now!” says Carolyn Harris.
58 min: Theus denies Russo again! That was brilliant centre-forward play. Stanway drove a flat, angled cross towards Russo, back to goal in the area. Her first touch was magnificent – she chested the ball around the corner and turned Tabita Joseph in the same movement – and the second was a crisp low shot that Theus pushed round the near post.
58 min: Good save by Theus! Russo takes the ball off Batcheba Louis on the left edge of the area, cuts inside and drives a low shot that is saved at the near post by the diving Theus.
57 min “Of all VAR’s many crimes against the game, I really can’t be done with the effective rule change for keepers at penalties,” says Tom Hopkins. “The rule might have said ‘can’t come off your line’, but it really meant ‘don’t take the rise’. Penalising a little hop forward as the taker swings their foot is for the birds.
“I also wonder how much of an extra advantage this micromanaging gives the better resourced sides. If you haven’t had specialist coaching on dragging your back foot along the line, do you even have a chance of saving a penalty any more?”
56 min Haiti are starting to boss the second half. Bright’s crossfield pass goes straight to Mondesir, who tries an extremely snapshot ambitious from 35 yards. Goalkick to England.
54 min Walsh makes a vital tackle on Dumornay, who was charging at a backpedalling England defence. For a 19-year-old, Dumornay is absurdly good.
53 min “Everyone in Canada thinks we need to top the group to avoid England.,” writes Gerard Kennedy. “Not sure about that but all the big sides look average so far. First-match jitters maybe.”
51 min Hemp is booked for a very poor tackle on Mondesir. It was a hack, essentially, and Mondesir is limping heavily when she gets to her feet. She should be able to run it off.
51 min “Re: predictions – don’t rule out Sweden,” says Tor Turner. “The USA looked beatable against Vietnam, and Sweden are a team capable of great things if it clicks on the night. It’s a tough ask, but they could well have the beating of them. Brazil are challengers too, should reach the semis and as we know, anything can happen…”
50 min: Good save by Earps! Dumornay bounces Bronze off the ball to give Haiti and a four-on-three break. She cuts inside from the left and whips a fierce curling shot from the edge of the area. Earps leaps to push it away, though the speed of the shot almost knocks her off her feet.
49 min The Haiti keeper Theus drags the ball confidently past the onrushing Russo. Her opposite number Earps did something similar in the first half.
48 min “Dumb question,” says Tom Stratford promisingly, “but is the general consensus goalkeepers come off their line at penalties inadvertently or because they do think they might be able to get away with gaining a marginal advantage by shuffling out a bit at the last minute? Previously I’d have said the latter but with VAR it now feels almost impossible to actually get away with it.”
Yes, I’m pretty sure it’s inadvertent. A lot of these keepers have had very little experience of VAR, so their muscle memory probably needs a bit of work.
46 min Kelly and Hemp have swapped wings at half-time. Kelly, now on the left, nicks the ball just outside the area and drags it stylishly away from Tabita Joseph. Her cross hits a defender and bounces into the arms of Theus.
46 min No changes on either side at half-time. Haiti’s Roselord Bogella gets the match underway.
Half-time correspondence
“Here in New Zealand,” writes Dave Butler-Peck. “Trying to juggle putting my tired 12-year-old to bed whilst reading the updates on the app – feeling nervous in my England top as always!”
“I know it’s not all about individual players, and it’s wrong and simplistic to say that a team is missing individual players,” begins Charles Antaki, “but at the the moment it’s all about England missing individual players. Is there some cryogenic advanced rehab/treatment to get Leah Williamson and Beth Mead back in time for the next game?”
“Williamson is a big loss, she’s a cultured player with the ball, a great reader of play, has great positional sense and instills calmness, like a certain Mr B Moore (no, not Bryan) used to be for the men back in the day,” writes Jeremy Boyce. “She’s a complete package that is difficult to replace.”
“Haiti have really surprised me here,” says Mark Harrison. “And on Dumornay – it’s a good thing for England that there’s only one of her, because she’s been the best player on the pitch by a distance so far. I’d also like to express some appreciation for the World Cup of Proper Stoppage Time 2 – Electric Boogaloo. It improves the viewing experience immensely.”
“The crowd was booing (28 mins) because we had no idea why the individual brilliance from the underdog was waved off,” says Sam Litster. “Instead we got a VAR replay of a VAR penalty when we’re keen to watch some football!”
“I’m with the MBM ‘cos I’m following from Spain,” says Chris Fowler, “and the national broadcaster’s commitment to the Women’s World Cup is not on the same planet as the men’s equivalent. Definitely a case of hunt the match. They gave us Zambia-Japan this morning, but no England-Haiti, and a fair number of the matches are on some platform called RTVE Play or something. In November-December you sometimes got the feeling that nothing was happening in the world but the World Cup, but the coverage of the women’s version makes you think that they asked the teaboy to organise it in his spare time.”
Half-time reading
“Go on then Rob, give us your picks,” says Jack Roe. “Winners, dark horses, surprise package?? Personally I’d love to see an England-Ireland second round and I think it’ll take something special to beat Spain.”
With the caveat that I’m no expert, I can’t see beyond Spain or the USA for the winners. Dark horses: Japan. Surprise package: China.
Half time: England 1-0 Haiti
First, the good news: England lead through Georgia Stanway’s twice-taken, VAR-awarded penalty. But they have struggled to open up a determined Haiti defence, and were grateful for Roselord Bogella missing a great chance at 0-0.
We shouldn’t be too critical, especially as it’s the first game of the tournament after a two-month break. But there were a few worrying signs in that half. The defenders were nervous and the attackers impatient. It didn’t feel like we were watching Sarina Wiegman’s injury.
England! I meant Sarina Wiegman’s England!
45+9 min Stanway is booked for a late challenge on Pierre-Louis.
45+9 min There’s been an unusual lack of subtlety in England’s attacking play. Ella Toone, the team’s chief wit, has been very quiet.
45+6 min I’d love to know how many touches Keira Walsh has had in this half. It feels like she hasn’t been involved at all. I know I keep going about it but that is a real problem for England. They may need to think about playing with two No6s if it continues.
45+5 min This is Haiti’s best spell of the game. Dumornay surges into space down the right – England thought she fouled Greenwood – before looking up and lofting a cross towards Borgella near the penalty spot. She heads over under pressure from Bronze.
That’s Borgella’s third sniff of goal tonight, through only the first one was a clear chance.
45+3 min “It’s a full house here in Manchester, venues have opened up early for fans and are doing a roaring trade in sneaky pints and full English breakfasts,” writes Tor Turner. “I’ve never seen so many people drinking lager at 10am (this is a lie, I regularly attend the cricket).
“We are SHAKY at the back. Plenty of firepower up front, but our back line seems very disorganised. Our backstop is Mary Earps, who I consider to be a goalkeeper without compare (esp as a United fan), but there’s only so much she can do if the back line crumbles. Fingers crossed we sort ourselves out in short order.”
Yes, they’ve been very jittery in defence. We shouldn’t forget that it’s Millie Bright’s first game since March. Even so, England are mmissing Leah Williamson’s influence as much as her ability.
45 min There will be nine minutes of added time.
44 min: Just wide from Borgella! Dumornay is a joy to watch. She works a short corner, moves impatiently past Kelly and lifts a dangerous cross that is headed wide by Borgella at the far post. There was a slight but crucial touch off an England head, without which Borgella may well have scored.
44 min Dumornay teases Bright in the area and crashes a low cross-shot that is put behind by the stretching Bright. Good defending.
43 min: Chance for Russo! Greenwood arrows a fine cross to the far post, where Russo pulls away from Mathurin, eight yards out, but then mistimes an attempted header. The ball hits her shoulder and flies wide.
43 min “A sleepy note in your hour of need,” says Ian Copestake. “Still waiting for VAR to make a decision to red card the American who was late on the Vietnam player. Looked a shocker to me but utterly ignored. Had roles been reversed I tell ya.”
42 min Most of England’s best work has been through Kelly and Bronze down the right. It’s all a bit disjointed though. They can play a lot better than this, and probably will once they get into the tournament.
41 min “Quite quiet in the stadium so far, in contrast to the party vibe outside the stadium,” writes Phil Udell. “Needs something to get the mood lifted. The incessant Fifa razzmatazz seems to dampen the atmosphere rather than enhancing it.”
40 min: Chance for Hemp! Stanway, 25 yards out, flips a lovely cross towards the unmarked Russo in the area. Russo can’t reach it but the ball drops for Hemp, who chests it tamely into the hands of Theus. Hemp was caught between a stooping header and a volley; in the end she did neither.
39 min Earps, who has had almost nothing to do so far, receives a backpass and calmly turns away from the onrushing Dumornay. And why not.
38 min Russo turns Tabita Joseph smartly on the left of the area and hammers a low cross that is claimed at the second attempt by Theus.
37 min “For a neutral it’s impossible to follow a match between two teams of such wildly differing resources without hoping for an upset,” writes Kári Tulinius. “And even though logic suggests a comfortable win for the Lionesses, the Grenadières seem full of self-belief. If they pull it off, it would have a good claim to be the greatest upset in World Cup history.”
36 min After a quick break from Haiti, Dumornay fresh-airs a spectacular overhead kick at the far post. As Sarina Wiegman flagged before the game, Haiti are dangerous on the counter.
36 min Jennfyer Limage is being stretchered round the perimeter of the pitch. She’s young enough (25) to get another chance, but it’s still a desperate twist of fate.
35 min “I’m here!” writes Carolyn Harris. “I’m watching in Flemish on Belgian TV and understanding only 50% of their commentary so I’m relying on your updates for the details. Exciting game so far!”
That it is, a bit too exciting at times.
34 min That goal is England’s first in four games. They aren’t playing too well, in truth – they look, unusually for this side, like a collection of individuals rather than a team. The fact Keira Walsh is being marked out of the game is a big reason for that.
31 min: Haiti substitution Poor Jennyfer Limage has been replaced by Ruthny Mathurin. It looked like a bad injury, certainly a potential tournament-ender.
GOAL! England 1-0 Haiti (Stanway 29 pen)
After a bit of a palaver, Georgia Stanway puts England in front! She went the same way, to her left, but this time kept the ball on the floor. Theus went the wrong way. Good penalty though.
28 min: The penalty will be retaken!
It was a fantastic save from Theus, diving to her right, but she was off her line when it was taken. There are boos from the crowd, though I’m not sure why.
What a save by Theus!!!
28 min My word, Kerly Theus has saved Stanway’s penalty – but she may have been off her line.
27 min: Penalty to England Yep, it was handball by Batcheba Louis, a needless one at that. She jumped to challenge Bronze and forgot to pull her hands out of the way.
26 min: Another VAR check for an England penalty! Kelly’s deep corner seems to brush the fingers of Batcheba Louis, who was jumping to challenge Bronze. This will be given.
25 min Jennyfer Limage is being helped off the field in tears. This is so sad. I don’t think it was Russo’s fault – Limage stretched to make a tackle and ended up in the kind of position you usually see in a game of Twister. It looked like a knee ligament strain.
23 min Russo bullies Limage to win another corner for England. Limage has stayed down and locks in a fair bit of pain.
22 min “A nice night in Brisbane?” says Simon McMahon. “Happy for them, but 15 degrees, cloud, wind and perhaps no rain for at least a couple of hours is my preferred weather…”
Don’t. I’ve been on that bloody weather app all night.
21 min Kelly’s dangerous cross from the right is pushed away desperately by Theus, who is clattered by Russo in the process.
20 min “I’m here Rob!” writes Joe Sampson. “Actually I’m currently walking in the hills in Asturias, Spain. So if you could let me know if anyone scores, I’d appreciate it!”
It would be my professional duty pleasure.
19 min: No penalty! The referee announces and explains the decision to the stadium, one of the innovations in this tournament. Pierre-Louis has been booked for the studs-up challenge on Kelly, but the foul by Russo preceded that, which is why England don’t get a penalty. Confused? Splendid, now all I need are the last three digits on the back of the card.
18 min: It’s still being checked. Pierre-Louis was trying to shepherd the ball out of play and stuck her studs into Kelly’s shin. It was overzealous rather than malicious, but it wasn’t a nice challenge. Never mind the penalty, this could be a red card.
Hang on, the plot thickens: Russo may have fouled Tabita Joseph just before Pierre-Louis’ tackle on Kelly.
VAR check for an England penalty! Maybe Pierre-Louis’ challenge on Kelly wasn’t legitimate; it’s being checked by VAR. She didn’t need to make the challenge at all.
The referee is going to the screen.
15 min Kelly’s deep cross is headed back across goal by Hemp towards Russo. Tabit Joseph shepherds the ball to safety, legitimately flattening Russo in the process, and then Pierre-Louis does the same to Kelly.