England Women’s defence of their European title got off to a losing start, beaten 2-1 by France in Zurich.

It is the first time a reigning champion has lost their opening game of the following tournament, with the Lionesses largely outplayed and outfought by the impressive French.

Offering her thoughts as to why England did not perform at their best to ITV Sport, Leah Williamson said: “We lost a game. Cheap defending one vs one. Not good enough. We couldn’t keep it in the areas we needed to keep it.

“We learned from those mistakes in fairness and grew into the game, but on the ball we were not good enough.”

But the Lionesses’ performance was bookended with two bright spells. Alessia Russo had the ball in the back of the net in the 16th minute, but her strike was ruled out by VAR for a Beth Mead offside in the build-up.

France reacted the better, taking advantage of England’s sloppy play and using their advantage down both wings – Lucy Bronze and Jess Carter struggling against the pace of Sandy Baltimore and Delphine Cascarino.

And it was another run from the latter that set France up for a deserved opener. Her pass into the box was turned home by Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who had drifted in behind Williamson.

Three minutes later and France doubled their lead, with England conceding the total number of goals they let in during Euro 2022 (2) in the space of a few minutes.

Baltimore shrugged off the double challenge of Williamson and Chelsea team-mate Bronze attempting the cross. England’s right-back stuck out a leg to block, but that only sent the ball back to the winger, who then turned home.

There was a VAR review for a foul on Russo in the build-up, but the technology stuck with the on-field decision to let the goal stand, sending the usually stoic Sarina Wiegman into an angry outburst at the fourth official.

France continued to look comfortable in the second half – until England were offered a lifeline in the 87th minute. Keira Walsh, who had struggled to pull the strings for the Lionesses as she so often does, rifled home from a cleared corner for just her second international goal.

The Lionesses continued to push – Michelle Agyemang looking bright when she came on as a late substitute – with Lauren Hemp having a poked effort cleared off the line after Pauline Peyraud-Magnin left her goal open.

But it was not enough for England to snatch an undeserved point, leaving them third in Group D. They will need to win their next two games against the Netherlands and Wales to stand a chance of progressing to the knockout rounds.

Williamson: Everyone has to take responsibility

England captain Leah Williamson speaking to ITV Sport: “We got better as they tired, we took advantage of that, but not enough.

“Sometimes that happens, the positive is that I’ve not seen us like that in terms of turning the ball over so much for a while now. It’s really frustrating, I think that’s how we take it, but tomorrow we are back on it.

“I think everybody takes responsibility for themselves today, have a look what was the area that they could have had an impact on the game more.

“I will, but I think then tomorrow we have a new game plan, different spaces available, different type of opposition.”

Wiegman: We played ourselves out of the game

England boss Sarina Wiegman speaking to ITV Sport: “I’m very disappointed about the result. I thought we started really well, scored a goal and unfortunately, it didn’t count.

“Then we played ourselves out of the game by playing short passes, which really helped them and not being tight enough. We needed to get out of that first press and skip and I think that harmed us a bit.

“Then of course, they scored goals and then at the end we played with four attackers and really tried to get the ball over the line but we didn’t.

“The wide areas were not the biggest problem. We started really well and then we started playing short passes, and that’s what they wanted, because they wanted to press. So we needed to get in behind them and try to skip the press, we lost. We were too sloppy and that didn’t help us; it helped them.

“Then of course, we know how good they are in the counter-attack. They are powerful and fast players. That’s what they did really well.”

Bonadei surprised by England approach

France head coach Laurent Bonadei: “England are a really good team. They are fifth in the world rankings and won the last Euros so we have to respect this team.

“They started really well and put pressure on us from kick-off. We were a little bit surprised because normally they play with build-up from Keira Walsh in midfield so it was really hard because we were under pressure, and we conceded. Luckily for us it was ruled out.

“Then slowly, step by step, we came back with our forward players and had our fantastic goal on the right-hand side. Physically, it was not easy for the England team because we play more direct in midfield. We kept calm and scored a second goal.

“In the second half, we controlled the game because they only had two shots on target. At the end of the game, you could see England could score at any time and we played under pressure for the last five minutes. My players did really well and kept the result.”