England 4-3-3 (Bardsley – Bronze, Houghton, Bright, Greenwood – Scott, Walsh, Kirby – Parris, White, Duggan)

Cameroon 4-2-3-1 (Ndom – Ejangue, Awona, Johnson, Leuko – Yango, Feudjo – Nchout, Abam, Onguene – Enganamouit)

Looking for a huge upset, Cameroon lined up defensively in the same way they did against the Netherlands. This made sense, as England’s shape is basically exactly the same as the Netherlands’ – back four, one holding midfielder, two advancing No.8s, two wingers and a lone striker. Cameroon set up in a 4-2-3-1, with their attacking midfielder on Walsh, and their two central midfielders on Jill Scott and Kirby. Their wingers, Nchout and Onguene, varied between tracking England’s full-backs and pressing the centre-backs.

Generally, Houghton and Bright were given a lot of time on the ball, as Cameroon were more interested in pressuring the midfield receivers. This worked out well for Cameroon, as neither Houghton nor Bright used their freedom to drive into the middle third and provoke defenders to leave their opposite men. Scott and Kirby moved vertically and laterally in a bid to get free to receive, but were often closed down from behind whenever they received the ball. Unable to turn and drive forward or pick a pass, one issue that arose here was the lack of connections in England’s midfield to help them play through the lines against a man-marking defence.

Another problem for England was their lack of width down the left-hand side. Left winger Duggan always looked to come inside, even dropping deep at times to try and get on the ball. A natural right-footed striker, these movements made sense for her but left the team without an option on the wide left. This was amplified by left-back Greenwood’s unwillingness to get forward down the flank. When Duggan moved in, Greenwood either didn’t push on or was too slow to, meaning England’s attacks were forced into the central man-marking or out to the right-hand side. This predictability is something other teams may wish to take note of.

Without any real rhythm to their possession, England’s chances and goals came from set pieces and broken play in and around the Cameroon defensive third. Their lack of momentum wasn’t helped by consistent stoppages forced by their opposition, who reacted badly to tight offside decisions going against them.

Cameroon posed more of a threat going forward in the second half, however. They started to commit more players forward in transitions, meaning there were more players to get on the end of their direct play or at least pick up the second or third ball and attack from higher up the pitch. Onguene and Nchout started to have more influence in the final third, and the extra numbers in advanced areas meant they could load the penalty box up for crosses. This, however, was not enough for them to go through.