Adelaide was the venue as England arrived sitting top of Group D. The Lionesses knew that a draw would see them progress to the last 16 as group winners, having recorded back-to-back 1-0 victories against Haiti and Denmark in their opening two matches.

Millie Bright captained the Lionesses from the start with Jess Carter alongside her in the central defensive pairing. Meanwhile, Lauren James retained her place after a mesmerising performance against Denmark last time out, where she netted the winning goal on her first World Cup start.

Perfect start

It took just four minutes for the Lionesses to open the scoring through Alessia Russo. A cross from Lauren Hemp was cleared only as far as James, whose cushioned header was beautifully controlled by Russo. She nestled the ball beyond the goalkeeper at her near post to give them the perfect start.

With 26 minutes played, England doubled their advantage with a wonderful flowing move. Bright intercepted a pass in the midfield before feeding James, who played an inviting ball for Hemp to run onto and confidently slot the ball home to put the Lionesses within touching distance of the last 16.

Having provided two assists, James got herself on the scoresheet just before the break with a wonderful first time finish from the edge of the box for England’s third of the night. She was controversially denied a superb second just moments later when VAR found Lucy Bronze to have been offside in the build-up.

Unstoppable James

On 54 minutes, China were awarded a penalty when VAR punished Bronze for handball and Wang Shuang dispatched from 12 yards to hand them a lifeline, but it didn’t take long for England to restore their three-goal cushion with 25 minutes remaining.

Jess Carter floated a teasing cross towards the back post where James was left totally unmarked and guided a sweet left-foot volley into the far corner for her second goal of the game. There was further Blues involvement as Niamh Charles came off the bench for her first World Cup appearance.

With 15 minutes remaining, James got her third assist of the match with a long ball that was misjudged by the goalkeeper and left Chloe Kelly to tap into an empty net, before Rachel Daly smashed home a sixth goal at the back post to complete the rout and set up a last-16 meeting with Nigeria.

Seven heaven

Elsewhere, Aniek Nouwen was an unused substitute as the Netherlands produced a stellar showing against Vietnam. In the early morning kick-off, they hit seven goals without reply to win Group E and progress to the last 16 where they will face the runners-up of Group G.

What’s next?

England’s victory over China sees them emerge from Group D in top spot and sets up a last 16 encounter with Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday 7 August, with kick-off at 8.30am (UK time).

The Netherlands progress to the last 16 as Group E winners where they will meet the runners-up in Group G on Sunday 6 August in Sydney, with kick-off scheduled for 3am (UK time).