Lauren James fires England to a 1-0 win over Denmark at the Women’s World Cup

SYDNEY— Lauren James scored after six minutes of her first start at the Women’s World Cup on Friday as European champion England beat Denmark 1-0.

Substitute Amalie Vangsgaard went close to scoring a dramatic late equalizer when heading against the post in the final moments of regulation time, but England held on for back-to-back wins.

The forward, who came off the bench to score Denmark’s 90th-minute winner against China in its opening Group D game, beat England goalkeeper Mary Earps, only to see her effort come back off the woodwork.

James, who was benched for the Lionesses’ opening game against Haiti, provided the decisive moment when making a quick impression after being called up from the start by coach Sarina Wiegman.

Collecting the ball outside the area, she curled a right-foot shot beyond the reach of Denmark goalkeeper Lene Christensen to put England in front.

It was back-to-back semifinalist England’s first goal from open play in more than seven hours of international soccer and set the team on course for back-to-back wins at the start of the World Cup.

The goal also saw the Lionesses tie Norway’s record of 15-successive games at the tournament in which they’ve scored.

While the win puts England on the verge of advancing from Group D, it had a setback when midfielder Keira Walsh injured her knee in the first half and had to leave the field on a stretcher.

South Africa squander two-goal lead, held 2-2 by Argentina

South Africa fumbled a 2-0 lead against Argentina and had to settle for a 2-2 draw in Group G of the FIFA Women’s World Cup here on Friday.

Both teams had suffered defeats in their opening group matches. Argentina had lost to Cristiana Girelli’s last-gasp winner against Italy, while South Africa had been turned around 2-1 by Sweden, reports Xinhua.

In Friday’s clash, South Africa took the lead in the 30th minute when Thembi Kgatlana sprung the offside trap and squared for a better-positioned Linda Motlhalo to tap in. Banyana Banyana doubled the lead in the 66th minute when they won back possession and Kgatlana found the back of the net from close range.

Argentina fought back and got back on level terms five minutes later when Sophia Braun fired a rocket from 25 yards before Romina Nunez steered a header into the net to restore parity.

Both sides have thus kept their last 16 hopes alive before their final Group G fixtures on Saturday in Wellington.

China edges Haiti 1-0 to keep World Cup hopes alive

Despite playing with 10 players for more than an hour, China defied the odds to secure a 1-0 victory over Haiti in its second game of the Women’s World Cup. Forward Wang Shuang scored her first-ever goal at a World Cup in the 74th minute, converting a penalty after VAR adjudged her teammate Zhang Linyan was fouled in the area. This victory marks the second time in Women’s World Cup history that a team has won with 10 players on the field, with the previous occurrence taking place in 2011.