England are second favourites to win this summer’s Women’s World Cup and the reigning European champions are expected to enjoy a smooth ride through the group stages in Australia. 

The Lionesses are 1/25 with LiveScore Bet to finish top of Group D, which also contains Denmark, China and Haiti having finished first in their section in two of the last three Women’s World Cups.

Euro champions the team to beat

Having won their first European Championship title last summer, England are gunning for a first global crown at the World Cup having never previously been beyond the semi-final stage.

Sarina Wiegman’s side had been 30 games unbeaten before a surprise loss to tournament co-hosts Australia in April, while they drew 0-0 with Portugal in their final warm-up outing.

The losses of captain Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead to injury, and Jill Scott and Ellen White to retirement mean it is not as strong an England squad as the one that won the Euros on home soil, but they have been boosted by stand-in skipper Mille Bright and Lucy Bronze shaking off respective injuries. 

Danes keen to make their mark

Denmark will be keen to erase memories of last summer’s European Championship debacle after crashing out at the group stage. 

They made light work of qualifying, booking passage to their first World Cup in 16 years with a 100 per cent record, while they have warmed up for the finals with wins over Norway, Japan and Sweden.

Those victories came without all-time leading goalscorer Pernille Harder and the Bayern Munich forward’s return to action makes the Danes even more dangerous.

China hoping to roll back the years

China came within a couple of penalties of winning the World Cup in 1999 but have struggled to get back to that level, exiting the last edition at the round of 16.

They have since won the AFC Asian Cup and could prove a tough nut to crack having taken a safety-first approach to matches following an 8-2 loss to the Netherlands at the Tokyo Olympics.

Haitians hope for positive experience

Haiti are the rank 100/1 outsiders to win the group with LiveScore Bet having massively overachieved just by qualifying for the World Cup.

The Caribbean nation, who beat Chile in the inter-confederation play-off, have had to endure a build-up dogged by off-field issues but a young core that did well at the Under-20 World Cup will hope to do the nation proud.

Group D best bet - China to qualify

England should be on a different level from their Group D opponents and justify their short-price status to top the section with something to spare. 

Denmark are expected to finish second at 1/3 to qualify with LiveScore Bet but it might be worth opposing them and taking China at 2/1 to go through to the last-16.

The Steel Roses look a better side under Shui Qingxia, a tactically diverse coach, and will hope to catch the Danes cold in what is likely to be a crucial opening game in the group. 

Group D long shots - China to finish top

China are 28/1 to win the group with LiveScore Bet and given they face England last in the sectional stage, they will hope to have six points on the board with a chance of springing a surprise against the Lionesses.