What China's win over Haiti means for England at the Women's World Cup 2023
England still have work to do to make sure they progress out of their group at the FIFA Women’s World Cup after their win over Denmark was followed by victory for China against Haiti in Australia.
Lauren James’ early strike earned the Lionesses a 1-0 win over their European rivals and it was a similar story at the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, where a second-half penalty for Wang Shuang sealed all three points for the Steel Roses in a dramatic encounter — despite Zhang Rui’s early red card.
Victory for the former World Cup runners-up kept their hopes of progressing to the round of 16 alive, and means that England are not out of the woods yet in their quest to reach the knockout stages.
How it unfolded
After 1-0 losses in their opening matches last Saturday, both Haiti and China knew that a victory was needed to give them a reasonable chance of qualification.
And the pressure was obvious on both sides, the opening exchanges of the contest tetchy and with few chances created.
However, with just half an hour gone, China’s hopes were severely dented by Rui’s sending off, the midfielder shown a straight red by referee Marta Huerta de Aza for a poor tackle on Sherly Jeudy.
Shortly before half time, Les Grenadières thought they had taken the lead through Nérilia Mondésir, though it was ruled out for offside.
With less than 20 minutes to go, China were handed a penalty following a lengthy VAR check, when Linyan Zhang was brought down.
Shuang had no trouble dispatching from the spot for what ultimately proved to be the winner, though Haiiti were controversially denied two penalties late on — one which could well have been given, had it been checked by VAR.
How England can progress
The result stopped England qualifying for the knockout
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