England becomes first reigning champion to lose a Women's Euro opener

England set a number of unwanted firsts as it began the defense of its Women's European Championship title by losing to France 2-1 on Saturday. Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore scored two quickfire goals towards the end of the first half as France recorded a ninth straight win and stunned the defending champion.

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Keira Walsh reduced the deficit three minutes from time but it wasn't enough to prevent England from becoming the first titleholder to lose its opening match at a women's Euros. "The positive is that I've not seen us like that ... for a while," England captain Leah Williamson told British broadcaster ITV. "We hold ourselves to higher standards in individual battles and we improved on that throughout the game, which is good."

The defeat also ended England coach Sarina Wiegman's remarkable flawless record in the competition, after winning 12 out of 12 matches across two tournaments as she steered first the Netherlands to the title and then England. "We're frustrated because we had such three very good weeks and we trained really well, but that's never a guarantee that of course you win the game," Wiegman said.

"You have to do things really well and we just didn't get it right at those moments." The Lionesses next face the Netherlands on Wednesday, before taking on Wales in their final group match four days later. The Netherlands beat Wales 3-0 in the early match in Group D.