England begin Women’s Euro title defence with defeat to France | OneFootball

England began their Women’s European Championship defence with a 2-1 loss to France at the Stadion Letzigrund on Saturday evening.

The Lionesses headed into the game in high spirits after thrashing Jamaica in a friendly last week.

They started the clash on the front foot and almost opened the scoring in the 15th minute.

Chelsea’s Lauren James beat her markers before laying the ball to Beth Mead, who passed it to Lauren Hemp.

Hemp’s shot was initially saved before Alessia Russo thumped it home, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

France nearly opened the scoring before the half-hour mark. Alice Sombath played the ball over the top, allowing Sakina Karchaoui to lob it over goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.

However, the ball landed into the side netting. It did not take too long for France to take control of the game.

They opened the scoring in the 36th minute, with Marie-Antoinette Katoto tapping the ball into the net.

France doubled their lead as Sandy Baltimore capitalised on poor defending to place her effort into the top corner.

The defending champions headed into the break with their egos bruised and still looked sluggish after the restart.

The French almost got their third of the evening as Mead gave the ball away, but Grace Geyoro fluffed her lines.

Keira Walsh gave England a glimmer of hope three minutes before the end, steering a fantastic effort into the top corner to score her second-ever international goal.

England are the first defending champions to lose their opening game in the Women’s Euros. They play the Netherlands in their second fixture on Wednesday evening.