Lauren James scored two goals and assisted on three others to lead England into the Round of 16 of the FIFA Women’s World Cup with a 6-1 shellacking of China on Tuesday in Adelaide, Australia.
China’s Shuang Wang scored the only goal in defeat. China failed to advance from the group stage for the first time in a Women’s World Cup.
With England (3-0-0, nine points) dealing with an injury to midfielder Keira Walsh (knee), the 21-year-old James has emerged as the nation’s rising star. A video review before halftime took away a goal or James would’ve bagged a hat trick against China (1-2-0, three points).
The Lionesses won three straight to win Group D ahead of Denmark, which will also advance.
England got three goals during group stage matches from James and next plays Nigeria on Monday in Brisbane.
Alessia Russo scored in the fourth minute and James assisted again on the second goal of the match — punched in by Lauren Hemp — before she scored the first of her pair of goals from the box in the 41st minute. Chloe Kelly and Rachel Daly also netted goals for England, which matched its widest margin of victory in a Women’s World Cup game.
Denmark 2, Haiti 0
For the first time since 1995, Denmark advanced from the group stage of the Women’s World Cup with a 2-0 win over Haiti (0-3-0, zero points) in Perth, Australia.
Denmark (2-1-0, six points) scored on two of its six shots on goal with scores from Pernille Harder and Sanne Troelsgaard. Harder scored on a penalty after Dayana Pierre-Louis was called for a handball. Troelsgaard scored in stoppage time to seal the Danes’ spot in the knockout round.
Co-host Australia awaits Denmark, which finished second in Group D to England, in a Monday match.
Netherlands 7, Vietnam 0
Five first-half goals allowed the Netherlands (2-0-1, seven points) to cruise past Vietnam at Dunedin, New Zealand, and wrap up the top spot in Group E. Esmee Brugts and Jill Roord scored twice apiece in the blowout.
Lieke Martens opened the scoring in the eighth minute, and Katja Snoeijs doubled the lead three minutes later. Goals from Brugts (18th minute) and Roord (23rd) put the outcome all but out of reach, and Danielle van de Donk added a fifth in the 45th minute.
In the second half, Brugts (57th) and Roord (83rd) rounded out the scoring.
Vietnam concluded its first Women’s World Cup appearance with losses in all three of its games.
–Field Level Media
