by James Nalton

THE highlight of England’s opening game at the 2023 Women’s World Cup was not the play of the reigning European Champions, but that of their opponents, Haiti.

Melchie Dumornay, the 19-year-old who will play for European club football powerhouse Lyon next season, was the game’s star player.

A penalty save from Haiti goalkeeper Kerly Theus produced another standout moment but England’s taker, Georgia Stanway, was given another chance as the VAR spotted that Theus had moved from her line a fraction of a second too early. Stanway made no mistake with the second attempt.

England’s second group stage opponents, Denmark, may be 40 places higher than Haiti in the most recent Fifa rankings, but the level of threat these teams posed to England was similar.

The wonder goal from Lauren James early in the first half against Denmark did little to cover up the fact England struggled to make the most of their dominance of possession, just as the retaken penalty kick saw them scrape a win against Haiti.

In both games, they looked susceptible to counter-attacks and often appeared unorganised in transition.

There is more familiarity when facing European opposition and England, just about, seemed more confident of the win against the team from northern Europe than in the opener against the team from the Caribbean.

This unpredictability of games in which teams from different regions face each other is one of the things that makes World Cups so compelling.

The rarity of games between some representatives of football’s six continental confederations adds to the intrigue.

We have already seen the Philippines defeat New Zealand, Nigeria come out on top in a thrilling 3-2 contest against Australia, and Jamaica draw with France among other encouraging moments from lower-ranked nations. Haiti also showed this despite their defeat against England.

A diverse sport with varying styles and global representation makes for more interesting tournaments.

James’s goal was England’s first in open play in almost four games worth of football, and much of the play showed why.

Sarina Wiegman’s side would have liked to have created more and to have capitalised further on what they did create.

They needed to show, to themselves as much as anyone else, that they can break down defences with their attacking play, but failed to do so.

Despite opening the scoring there was never confidence that England would win convincingly, even if they always seemed somewhat assured of the win.

A brilliant take and turn from Rikke Madsen threatened to make England’s dominance of possession meaningless with an equaliser, but the forward’s shot flashed past the far post.

Denmark remained a threat on the counter, especially when they could get Pernille Harder involved. From their point of view, they couldn’t do this anywhere near often enough.

Substitute Amalie Vangsgaard hit the post with a header for the Danes late in the game as England switched off defensively.

Away from the disappointment of another fairly flat performance, the game was marred by an even more disappointing moment when England’s world-class holding midfielder Keira Walsh suffered what looked like a serious knee injury.

The 26-year-old who plays her club football for Barcelona has been one of the standout players for England in recent years, to the point where teams have been trying to mark her closely in an attempt to prevent her from dictating play.

But the injury suffered in Sydney occurred under no close contact from any opposition player, as her boot got stuck in the turf and her knee twisted. She immediately gestured to the bench, telling the attending physios: “I’ve done my knee.”

The worrying regularity of ACL injuries in women’s football means there is fear every time a player goes down in such a manner.

Georgia Stanway was on the floor holding her leg early in the game but it was just a knock. Still, the worry and the fear were momentarily there.

Players know instantly, though. It has become such a common injury that anyone who watches the game regularly can now diagnose it from the sideline or watching on TV, just from the nature of the fall and the reaction of the player. It’s a blight on the game that has cast a shadow over the World Cup.

According to a report from Laura Hunter of Sky Sports, as many as 30 players who could have potentially been selected for their countries are missing the tournament due to this injury, and up to 195 elite players have suffered it in the women’s game in the past year.

If worst fears are confirmed, England will likely have to play the rest of the tournament without their deep-lying midfield playmaker and have plenty of improving to do if they are to progress.

They have two 1-0 wins and two clean sheets from difficult games. Made difficult by the opposition, but also by themselves.

At this stage of a tournament points on the board are all that matters, but the England camp and England followers would have liked to have seen more signs that the team can be more ruthless in attack.

Despite those two wins, a goal difference of just +2 means they are not yet guaranteed to advance to the knockouts. 

They will need a result in the final group game in Adelaide on Tuesday against a China team ranked 14th in the world. 

It could be another intriguing and unpredictable match-up between teams from different continents. England will be hoping it is more straightforward.