England thrash China to reach last 16 in style

England secured their place in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup with a resounding 6-1 victory over China, who have failed to reach the knockout stages for the first time ever.

The European champions went into the match against the Asian champions knowing a point would be enough to progress, but despite missing Keira Walsh, who it has now been confirmed has not suffered an ACL injury, they produced a performance to remind everyone why they are amongst the tournament favourites, with a free-flowing, incredibly entertaining display, in which Lauren James stole the show.

After much debate over how the team would look in Walsh’s absence, the Lionesses lined up in a 3-5-2 formation, not the 4-1-2-3 which Weigman has typically deployed.

Alessia Russo opened the scoring inside four minutes, with a sharp finish into the bottom left corner, after a header forward from James.

With England’s wing backs Rachel Daly and Lucy Bronze almost constantly positioned in the opposition half, it took China 20 minutes to venture out of their low block and have their first attack, whilst England continued to pile on the pressure. The second goal came in the 26th minute after Bright stepped into the middle of the park to regain the ball after a poor pass. She found James, who played in Hemp in the inside right channel. The Man City winger took a touch to shift the ball onto her favoured left foot, and drills it low across goal from fifteen yards

James added a goal to her two assists with four minutes to the break. From a free kick on the right, ten yards from the byline, Greenwood played a perfectly weighted pass to James, unmarked on the edge of the box. James unleashed a shot with spin over the sea of players in the box which nestled in the bottom left corner.

And she found the back of the net for a second time in stoppage time curling the ball into the top left corner from the edge of the box, the ball played back to her by Lucy Bronze. But the goal was ruled out by VAR with little explanation given.

Mary Earps made the first of two great saves in the 52nd minute, and from the resulting corner, a penalty was given, Lucy Bronze booked for a handball. Shuang Wang scored from the spot, shooting straight down the middle.

James’ second, to make it 4-1, was a left footed volley. Jess Carter picked up the second ball on the edge of the box and moved it to Bronze who put a ball to the back post. James watched it all the way and volleyed across goal with her left foot.

Having been denied a hat trick of goals by VAR, Lauren James did complete her hat trick of assists when she played a long ball forwards from inside her own half looking for Chloe Kelly. This was misjudged by goalkeeper Zhu Yu who ventured outside of her box, allowing Kelly to get around her and find the open goal.

Rachel Daly completed the rout in the 84th minute, scoring on the volley from the edge of the six yard box, having been teed up by substitute Laura Coombs after getting forward from left wing back.

The move to a back three allowed Daly and Bronze more licence to get forward from the wing back positions, without having to worry about England getting caught out by opposition forwards running in behind, with Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter played either side of captain Millie Bright in a high defensive line, Bright winning back the ball and progressing up the pitch countless times, whilst Carter and Greenwood each got an assist. Their passing out from the back was simply a joy to watch. Throughout the tournament so far, Greenwood and Bright rank second and third for accurate long balls per 90 minutes, both averaging 8.3. Greenwood, Carter and Bright are ranked second, third and fourth in terms of accurate passes per 90 too.

The midfield partnership of Zelem and Stanway in the first half, or Zelem and Coombs in the second seemed to work, with at least one of the back three stepping into midfield in possession, creating a central overload which China simply couldn’t cope with.

The strike partnership of Russo and Hemp, and then substitutes Bethany England and Chloe Kelly combined effectively. Russo playing a more central striker, pinning the Chinese centre backs in, with Hemp, naturally a winger, as is Kelly, then roaming in spaces in the attacking third.

Just behind them in the 10, Lauren James put in a performance up there with the best of any England player at a World Cup ever. Becoming the first English footballer to be directly involved in five or more goals in a game at a Men’s or Women’s World Cup. She also worked hard, at times providing cover for Rachel Daly on the left when England’s number nine went forward.

All teams have to evolve to keep being successful, and the move to a 3-5-2 is by far the biggest tactical evolution we’ve seen from England since their home Euros success. The system played to the strengths of every player within the starting XI, which has changed a fair amount due to retirements and injuries, but what will be interesting to see now, is whether England stick with it. Not only against Nigeria, who have surprised many by finishing second in Group B behind co-hosts Australia, at the expense of Olympic champions Canada, but longer term. When key players such as Keira Walsh, Beth Mead and Leah Williamson return.

China’s low block invited pressure, and there would also have been a level of surprise for manager Qingxia Shui and her team, who struggled with England’s physicality and central overloads. Other teams, with time to prepare to face Weigman’s side in this formation, will of course find ways to stop them. But what England have regained is a level of unpredictability, with opposition having figured out ways to deal with the 4-1-2-3. Even if England revert to that, teams will surely not be able to dedicate as much preparation time to that shape alone.

The bottom line is, Wiegman’s masterstroke allowed England to get back to doing what they do best, playing free-flowing, attacking football.