Lionesses open World Cup account after VAR drama as Stanway maintains record

The Lionesses took on Haiti in their first game Down Under, with the tournament debutantes keeping the European Champions on their toes in the first-half.

It was England who drew first blood in the opening 45 minutes, though, with Georgia Stanway converting a penalty after a handball in the box by Haiti's Batcheba Louis.

But the Lionesses' path to their opener wasn't an easy one, with VAR having to be called into action three times in just 30 minutes of play.

Sarina Wiegman's side thought they'd been given a spot kick when Chloe Kelly was brought down in the box by a nasty-looking studs-up challenge from Dayana Pierre-Louis.

But, instead, a VAR review saw the referee rule that no penalty should be awarded, with England's Alessia Russo being penalised for a foul in the build-up instead.

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Still, despite denying England a spot kick, the referee dealt Pierre-Louis a yellow card for her challenge, with Russo booked as well.

Shortly after, England were given a penalty when Lucy Bronze was denied the ball in the box due to a handball from Louis - her fingers touching the ball with her arms stretched out above her head.

Stanway stepped up looking to make it eight penalties from eight in her international career, only for Kerly Theus to save her attempt and push the ball behind for a corner.

However, Stanway was then given a second chance, as a review spotted Haiti's goalkeeper had come off her line too early for the first spot kick.

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The Bayern Munich star smashed her second penalty into the back of the net to kick the Lionesses' campaign into gear, going the same way to fool Theus and maintaining her record from the spot.