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England have beaten Scotland 2-1 in their opening game of the Women's World Cup.

A penalty spot goal from Nikita Parris put England in the lead, which was followed by another from Ellen White just before the second half.

Scotland - making their World Cup debut - were able to take advantage of a slower second half for England, with Scotland's Claire Emslie scoring following a poor pass from England captain Steph Houghton.

Unfortunately for Scotland, the equaliser never came, but it was a huge improvement on the 6-0 defeat against England at Euro 2017.

Speaking after the game, England manager Phil Neville commented: "It taught us that every game is going to be hard."

"I was pleased with the result. The first game is always the most difficult game."

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport pundits weren't hugely impressed by the Lionesses.

"Teams will be looking at this and will they be worried about this England performance? I don't think so," said former England international Alex Scott, who played at three World Cups.

Former Chelsea and Scotland winger Pat Nevin was impressed by their opponents, though. "Scotland have a fantastic chance of getting out of their group. Scotland know they can compete now and they'll have learned so much from this match," he said to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 5 Live.

Scotland are currently ranked 20th in the world - 17 positions lower than the England side.

Phil Neville's England will now face Argentina in Le Havre on Friday (8pm) and Scotland's next Group D game sees them take on Japan in Rennes the same day at 2pm.

Japan are ranked seventh in the world, while Argentina are currently placed 37th.