Women's World Cup: England beaten by Canada in warm up

England were defeated 1-0 by host nation Canada in their final warm-up game before the World Cup.

Sophie Schmidt scored with a brilliant first-time strike from the edge of the box in the 23rd minute.

In a game of few clear openings, Mark Sampson's England were second best for long periods but Fara Williams struck the crossbar from distance late on.

England begin their World Cup campaign with a match against the highly-rated France side in Moncton on 9 June.

And they will need to show a considerable improvement on their performance in Hamilton, Ontario, if they are to make a serious impression at the World Cup.

They perhaps enjoyed the better of a scrappy start to the match on the artificial surface at Tim Hortons Field and went close through a free-kick from returning captain Steph Houghton.

Canada - coached by Englishman John Herdman - appeared tentative and uncertain before Schmidt settled any nerves with her brilliant strike.

She connected with Josee Belanger's low pass and thrashed the ball beyond Karen Bardsley with her sensational first-time strike.

Canada, defeated by England in the Cyprus Cup final in March, took charge for the remainder of the opening half, with the impressive Schmidt going close with a free-kick and again with a shot that Bardsley kept out after the restart.

Sampson, who had named a first XI featuring several players uncertain to start against France, made a triple substitution on 60 minutes but it had little impact as Canada continued to play the more impressive football.

However, England almost levelled against the run of play after 87 minutes when substitute Williams struck the crossbar with a long-range effort that completely caught out keeper McLeod.

England starting XI: Bardsley, Bronze, Houghton (c), Stoney, Rafferty, Duggan, J Scott, Chapman, Carney, White, Sanderson.