England 2 1 Scotland

Scotland proved they belong at the top level despite losing 2-1 to England on Sunday in their Women's World Cup debut, says midfielder Kim Little

Shelley Kerr's side regrouped after falling 2-0 behind in France and scored their first World Cup finals goal courtesy of Claire Emslie.

Phil Neville said his England side have “nothing to fear” as they began their World Cup quest with a narrow victory against Scotland in which a convincing first half was slightly undermined by a less than ruthless second

The result offered Shelley Kerr’s team a glimmer of hope on their World Cup debut amid the heat and humidity of the south of France, with Claire Emslie’s late goal restoring an element of Scottish pride after Nikita Parris and Ellen White had put the Lionesses two goals ahead.

“It was good to get that game out of the way,” Neville said. “It was always going to be emotional and it was really hot. We played really well in the first half, we knew Scotland would sit back and try to contain us but we started off playing very adventurously.