Reigning European champion England loses opener to France

ZURICH (AP) — England set a number of unwanted firsts as it began the defense of its Women’s European Championship title by losing to France 2-1 on Saturday.

Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore scored two quickfire goals towards the end of the first half as France recorded a ninth straight win and stunned the defending champion.

Keira Walsh reduced the deficit three minutes from time but it wasn’t enough to prevent England from becoming the first titleholder to lose its opening match at a women’s Euros.

It also ended England coach Sarina Wiegman’s remarkable flawless record in the competition, after winning 12 out of 12 matches across two tournaments as she steered first the Netherlands to the title and then England.

The Lionesses next face the Netherlands on Wednesday, before taking on Wales in their final group match four days later.

The Netherlands beat Wales 3-0 in the early match in Group D.

France was without injured captain Griedge Mbock, while England welcomed back Lauren James with the midfielder starting her first match since a hamstring injury at the start of April.

James almost gave England the lead within 40 seconds with a clever run into the box but fired narrowly over.

Alessia Russo thought she gave England the lead in the 16th minute, turning in the rebound after Lauren Hemp’s shot was saved but it was ruled out for a tight offside decision on Beth Mead in the buildup.

France grew in ascendancy after that. Sakina Karchaoui almost scored what would have been one of the goals of the tournament as she lobbed Hannah Hampton but the ball landed in the side-netting.

Hampton also had to make a couple of fine stops before France broke the deadlock in the 36th. Elise De Almeida won the ball in her own half before surging down the right and threading the ball through to Delphine Cascarino, who put in a low cross for Katoto to tap in at the back post.

France doubled its lead just three minutes later. Baltimore mazed her way into the area, close to the byline, and Lucy Bronze inadvertently kept the ball in play with her attempted tackle, allowing the Chelsea forward to curl into the far side of the net.

France was almost out of sight at the start of the second half, with Hampton having to scramble behind her and grab the ball before it crossed the line, after fumbling an effort from Grace Geyoro.

England hadn’t even had a shot on target before it got back into the game late on. A corner was cleared only to the edge of the area for Walsh to calmly control before firing into the top right corner for only her second international goal.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer