Women World Cup: England thrashes China 6-1 to set up Nigeria clash in knockout stage

• England defeated China 6-1 in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
• Lauren James scored two goals and had three assists.
• England topped Group D and will face Nigeria in the round of 16.

England advanced to the FIFA Women’s World Cup’s round of 16 with a dominant 6-1 victory over China, led by Lauren James.

James continued to lead with three assists and two goals. She came close to scoring three goals in the Women’s World Cup, but a VAR review stopped her.

“Again, another day of what dreams are made of,” James said as she left the field. “I’m happy for the team and everyone’s buzzing. And yeah, we’re looking forward to going into the next round.”

Before scoring herself to make it 3-0 as halftime loomed, the 21-year-old had previously set up Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp, and she believed she had made it four with a beautiful shot into the top corner.

Lucy Bronze was later determined to have been offside throughout the buildup, and the goal was thus disallowed following a VAR review.

“Yeah, I was disappointed in the moment obviously, but that’s football for you, and in the moment I just had to refocus for the game to continue,” James told a press conference.

Unfazed, she scored again in the 65th minute to set up Chloe Kelly for England’s fifth goal, capping off a rout that saw England top Group D with three victories and go to the round of 16 against Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday.

“I think I’m just playing with freedom, feeling myself and just enjoying my football. I think tonight showed that, and so did the last game, and hopefully I can just continue doing that and take it into the next round,” James added.

In typical Sarina Wiegman fashion, she gently diverted the conversation away from James’ individual brilliance and back to the team effort.

“I think you could see it from the whole team, that we were enjoying ourselves, you could tell that we were really connected,” Wiegman told reporters.

“The ball was going around and we had different ways to go and attack, and LJ was one of them, and when she scored you could also tell that the whole team was enjoying that.”

For the last group game, Wiegman made a number of tactical and personnel adjustments, but she rejected the notion that doing so would make Nigeria or future opponents more difficult to figure out.

“That’s a part of the game – every team has an analysis team, and they will watch the games and predict how we are going to play, and that’s the same for us,” she said.

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