Read the match report from Rennes:
And then it’s Norway v Nigeria later, 8pm (BST):
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Full-time: Germany 1-0 China
Giulia Gwinn’s belting strike is the difference in Rennes. Germany are up-and-running – but they were certainly made to work for victory, riding their luck at times, particularly at the end of the first half when China rattled the woodwork. But Germany’s pressure eventually told, with Gwinn firing home from just outside the box. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Wang Shuang came on at the interval but, as it turned out, there was only room for one superstar: Dzsenifer Marozsán, the majestic Lyon midfielder.
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90+3 min: Last chance saloon for China. They win a corner ...
90 min: There will be three minutes added time. Germany are determined to eke out victory, knocking the ball around without too many grand plans. They are going to sit on their one-goal lead.
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88 min: Wang Shuang sends a low corner into the box and Doorsoun lashes the ball away. Anywhere will do-style. This game, it is fair to say, has fizzled out.
87 min: For a moment, Gu Yasha is in – but again she dallies on the ball far too long the chance is gone. China do win a corner, though.
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85 min: Svenja Huth is replaced by Lea Schüller, as Germany make their third and final change of the afternoon in Rennes. Schüller was her country’s joint-top scorer in qualifying, alongside the influential skipper, Alexandra Popp.
84 min: Marozsan, the Lyon star, is on the end of another late challenge on halfway. That is a compliment, right? She might not feel that way.
82 min: Gu Yasha delivers the ball from the left, a good 25 yards from goal but it is not too brilliant. They do manage to recycle possession, with Wang Shuang handing over the baton to Zhang, who drives at goal. It was always rising.
82 min: Oberdorf, the 17-year-old substitute, drags down another sub, Wang Shuang. China have a chance to swing the ball in from a free-kick ...
81 min: China’s supporters in Rennes are making a racket – but since going behind they failed to penetrate the German defence. That Gwinn goal has knocked the stuffing out of them.
78 min: A flurry of half-chances for Germany, as the goalscorer Gwinn eyes another. She drives goalwards from an acute angle but Peng Shimeng is equal to it. Other than a wild start, the China goalkeeper has had a decent game.
77 min: Svenja Huth does the hard part, driving into the box after being slipped in by Marozsan. She cuts the ball back – but is offside.
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74 min: The ball sits up nicely for Sara Däbritz on the edge of the area but her effort is a daisy-cutter at best. China rallied back in numbers quickly. Over the public address system, they confirm a crowd of more than 15,000 here in Rennes.
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73 min: Svenja Huth wellies an effort into Row Q.
71 min: That goal has settled Germany down. The purring Marozsan, who has been a class act throughout, has just sent a wondrous ball arcing across the pitch. They are in the mood now. The challenge is to build on their one-goal lead.
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69 min: How will China respond? Well, for starters Yang Li, who struck a post in the first half, is withdrawn and replaced by Song.
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GOAL! Germany 1-0 China (Gwinn, 66)
The teenager thumps the Germans ahead. A Marozsan corner culminates in the ball dropping to the edge of the box, where Giulia Gwinn is lurking. She controls the ball with her first touch, steadying herself to hammer home a rasping shot with her next. A stunning strike – Peng Shimeng had no chance in the China goal. The 19-year-old Freiburg winger absolutely buried it.
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63 min: Magull, one of Germany’s Bayern Munich contingent, replaces Leupolz, whose last action found her on the receiving end of a shove by Yang Li.
61 min: Alexandra Popp, the Germany captain, has a, er, pop at Gu Yasha after the China midfielder had a nibble at the forward while on the floor. Popp had picked the ball up, assuming she would earn a foul but the Canadian referee gave it the other way. It is not quite happening for Germany.
59 min: Hegering swings a leg at a loose ball in the box – but China manage to hook it away. It stemmed from another fine Marozsan corner, after good work by Gwinn. This game has certainly not been short of chances – but no breakthrough. Yet.
56 min: Peng Shimeng pushes the ball away from danger! Hendrich arrived late at the back post, attempted to stab Oberdorf’s ball home but the Germany defender could not make any meaningful contact – if any – to prod it in. Other than that, China have started where they left off, shading a finely-poised encounter.
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55 min: Away from Rennes for a moment, a bit of breaking news: Fifa have issued a life ban and 1m CHF (Swiss franc) fine to the former Afghan football president Keramuudin Karim, for the sexual abuse of “various female players” – the harshest penalty available.
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52 min: Germany still look a bit wobbly. Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, the manager, is hardly jumping up and down on the touchline. Introducing a teenager for her major tournament debut is a considerable show of faith, too.
48 min: China try to play their way out of trouble but get caught in doing so, inviting Germany to pile on the pressure for the first time this half. Svenja Huth wins a free-kick down the right, with Liu Shanshan booked for a lunge on the forward.
46 min: Back under way, and a change apiece for Germany and China. Carolin Simon has been replaced by the 17-year-old, Lena Oberdorf. China have also tweaked personnel, introducing Paris Saint-Germain superstar Wang Shuang, the only player in their ranks to play outside of her homeland.
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And in the blue corner! Scotland fancy their chances, too:
Essential half-time reading: time for a quick look ahead, to England v Scotland in Nice on Sunday, with Phil Neville’s side determined to make a splash in their Group D opener:
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Half-time: Germany 0-0 China
An entertaining first half draws to a close – and somehow it is still goalless, with both sides having hit the woodwork. Germany started like a train in Rennes, with Alexandra Popp and Dzsenifer Marozsán causing problems but a resolute China came back fighting and, by the end of the first period, they had the second-best team in the world very much on the ropes. Yang Li squandered two big chances and made Germany suffer late on.
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45+2 min: Another chance for China goes to waste! They work the ball across to Gu Yasha, who has peeled off Hendrich, the absent Germany right-back, but she dallies on it too long, preferring to pass rather than leather the ball at goal. Germany are allowed a route back in and eventually smother the ball.
45 min: There will be four added minutes.
44 min: China strike a post! Yang Li curls a first-time effort at goal but it cannons off the upright! A huge let-off for Germany, who were at sixes and sevens at the back, allowing China to play in Li in acres of space. A comedy of errors ensued after the ball came bouncing off the woodwork, and the Germany goalkeeper ends up taking a whack from Li who attempted to poke home the rebound.
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41 min: Germany play with fire, allowing China to jink in off the left flank and they almost do some damage. They slip in Yang Li but the striker is ousted off the ball by a bit of mean German defending by Doorsoun. There are a couple of half-hearted shouts for a penalty but the referee Beadouin is having none of it.
39 min: Marozsan causes havoc again, with her ball finding Popp but the Germany captain cannot carve out enough room to fire at goal. China do well to surround the skipper, making life difficult and eventually crowding her out. The Germany coach, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, looks on rather nervously.
34 min: Ruyin Tan goes crashing in on Sara Däbritz. The China substitute’s first act is to clatter the unsuspecting Germany midfielder on halfway, which leaves Däbritz feeling the full force of a hefty challenge. Another, er, agricultural attempted tackle.
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33 min: And Lou being screened by the referee is her last contribution: the China midfielder jogs off to be replaced by Tan.
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32 min: Germany pour forward again – but China stand firm. In the buildup to the move, a routine pass on halfway zipped across the turf with the referee Beaudouin inadvertently blocking off the China midfielder Lou Jiahui, who took a whack on the foot a moment ago. Thankfully, it did not come to anything.
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29 min: Peng punches away another gorgeous Marozsan delivery. The Lyon playmaker has been at the heart of all of Germany’s good work. Meanwhile, some news out of the Brazil press conference: Marta is out of their group opener against Jamaica on Sunday, when England also take on Scotland.
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26 min: Germany are edging closer to a breakthrough, as Svenja Huth cuts in off the left flank to bend a shot at goal. It is always rising but zooms just over the crossbar. China allowed Huth to bounce in off the wing all too easily.
23 min: China hack the ball off the line! Marozsan’s corner comes flying into the near post and the ball pinballs off a couple of red shirts but somehow the ball bounces away from danger – Germany, and Popp in particular, cannot believe it. And then China make a better fist of clearing another corner second time around.
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19 min: Simon pops up in a more orthodox position down the left flank. She curves another teasing ball towards the back post, where Alexandra Popp is lurking. The Germany captain rises highest to make contact with it – but her header bounces on to the roof of the net. It was not the cleanest of contact, with Popp taking a thud from the China goalkeeper Peng Shimeng. Popp limps to the sidelines for a dab of treatment but the Wolfburg striker is fine.
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17 min: Germany rattle the crossbar! They play a short corner, with Carolin Simon given time and space to bend a left-footed cross into the box – but it almost ends up floating into the top corner. Another left-off, this time for China.
14 min: And China pass up the game’s best chance! A golden opportunity goes begging. Sara Doorsoun-Khajeh’s weak cross-field ball gifts China the chance to break forward, three-on three. After countering at speed, it eventually drops to Yang Li but she fails to bury it, and the ball is deflected wide for a corner, with Doorsoun, the Wolfsburg midfielder, diving in to make amends. China simply took too long to get a shot away.
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13 min: Marozsan, back up and grooving, swivels on the ball 25 yards out and almost releases Popp – but fails to execute the killer pass. It is a little wayward and China survive. A touch of class by Marozsan, who has looked very good every time she has got on the ball. And now China pour forward down the other end ...
11 min: A rash challenge by Wang Shanhan on Marozsan leaves Germany’s prized asset in a heap. It was a very late attempt at nicking the ball away. The Chinese No 11 gets a booking, a just reward. Marozsan shakes her head in disbelief but gets back up on to her feet. Germany are yet to get out of first gear.
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9 min: Germany attempt to pile on the pressure but Sara Däbritz’s downfield pass is heavy. China’s eyes lit up a moment ago, afforded the chance to make a rare foray towards the Germany 18-yard line but the move broke down quickly.
6 min: Svenja Huth does well for Germany, shuffling down the left before working the ball into Marozsan. Huth looks for the reverse pass but the Lyon midfielder just undercooks the return ball. China – just about – manage to clear their lines in time. A front-foot start by the Germans, as expected.
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4 min: China are struggling to get out of their own half, with Germany’s tails very much up after a couple of early raids forward. It is all bit harum-scarum in the China defence. Germany look calm and composed, but are aggressive in their pressing.
3 min: A smart effort from 20 yards by Däbritz, a rasping drive from just outside of the box. It drops just wide of the China goal but, once more, it was a case of heart in mouth stuff in their defence. Germany have made a solid start.
2 min: Peng Shimeng comes rushing out of goal but fails to truly deal with a neat, whipped ball from the right. It darts across goal but China come away unscathed. It was not the most convincing of goalkeeping by the Peng.
1 min: The Germany captain Popp is little overzealous in the challenge, with a high foot on the defender Yin and China win an early free-kick.
Peeeeeeeeeep!
China get things started.
We are just the national anthems away from the off in Rennes. Here we go ...
For China, Wang Shuang is certainly worth looking out for. Sometimes referred to, rather flatteringly, as “the female Leo Messi” in her homeland, she has shone in France. The forward ended her first season at Paris Saint-Germain with seven goals and eight assists in 18 appearances in Ligue 1 and one goal and one assist in the Champions League. She was voted the AFC Women’s Player of the Year in 2018 and, at 24, is the symbol of Chinese women’s football’s rejuvenation.
Time for a bit more on Dzsenifer Marozsán, who has the talent to singlehandedly steer Germany all the way: the Lyon midfielder is universally considered one of the best women’s playmakers on the planet and, at 27, is now in her prime. The youngest player ever to appear in a Bundesliga game when she was 15, she has won the Champions League both with Frankfurt and Lyon and has been voted the best player in the French league twice – ahead of standout teammates such as Ada Hegerberg and Eugénie Le Sommer. She is back at her best despite missing three months in the summer of 2018 due to a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.
Essential pre-match reading:
Team news!
Germany (4-2-3-1): Schult; Hendrich, Doorsoun, Hegering, Simon; Leupolz, Däbritz; Huth, Marozsán, Gwinn; Popp
Subs: Maier, Oberdorf, Schüller, Goeßling, Benkarth, Elsig, Dallmann, Schweers, Bühl, Magull, Frohm, Knaak
China (4-4-2): Peng Shimeng; Han Peng, Wu Haiyan, Lin Yuping, Liu Shanshan; Lou Jiahui, Yao Wei, Zhang Rui, Gu Yasha; Yang Li, Wang Shanshan
Subs: Xu, Wang, Li, Li, Wang, Wang, Song, Li, Bi, Tan, Luo, Liu
Referee: Marie-Soleil Beaudoin (Canada)
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Preamble
From Paris to Rennes, then. France got off to a flyer and now Germany, the free-scoring Olympic champions, plan to follow. They begin their quest for further glory in Group B, against China. The two-time winners were knocked out in the semi-finals in 2015 – and in the quarter-finals of the European Championship in 2017 – but remain No 2 in the world. Germany boast a degree of stardust in Dzsenifer Marozsan, a Hungarian-born midfielder. Already a European champion after helping Lyon to Champions League success, she scooped the French league’s player of the year award for the third season in a row and was third in the inaugural vote for the women’s Ballon d’Or. As for China, they boast their own midfield powerhouse: Wang Shuang, who arrived at Paris Saint-Germain to much fanfare. There is further encouragement too, given they have reached at least the quarter-finals in each of their previous six World Cup appearances.
Kick-off: 2pm (BST)
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