I am expecting England to get better and better as this World Cup goes on, so this performance should be much improved on their win against Haiti.
Even so, I am not anticipating the same kind of instant step-up we saw at last year’s European Championship, when the Lionesses went from a narrow victory over Austria in their first group game to an 8-0 thrashing of Norway next time out.
England have come into this tournament in a totally different place in terms of momentum and confidence than they were before the Euros, and are also without some key personnel, so it is is going to take a bit longer for the team to gel.
But we do have plenty of experienced players at major finals, and lots of quality too – plus a real mastermind of a manager – so I still think we will get the job done.
We need a win to get out of the group, and that’s exactly what we will get.
Brown-Finnis’ prediction: 1-0