A Georgia Stanway penalty gave European champions England a scrappy 1-0 win over Haiti to begin their Women’s World Cup title bid in unconvincing fashion on Saturday.

Played in front of over 44,000 fans at Brisbane Stadium, most of whom were supporting the English, Stanway’s 29th-minute penalty proved to be enough to just about see off a gutsy Haitian side.

England went into the match as firm favourites over Haiti, who are playing in their first World Cup.

But despite dominating territory and possession at times, the Lionesses struggled to put Haiti away and had to rely on some late brilliance from goalkeeper Mary Earps to secure all three points.

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