The Dutch side were in impressive form, with two goals each from Frederique Matla and Pleun van der Plas helping them to a convincing 10-2 victory in Pool A.

“We passed a lot and produced a lot of beautiful combinations so it was a great game for us,” Netherlands captain Maartje Krekelaar said.

“We pressed very well, gained a lot of possession and were always attacking.

“That is the power within our team.”

In the other match in Pool A, Zimbabwe’s first appearance in a Hockey Junior World Cup since 2005 ended in a heavy defeat as they were soundly beaten 10-0 by the United States.

Erin Matson and Ashley Hoffman both found the net twice as seven different American players managed to get their names on the scoresheet.

On a day packed full of goals, Australia cruised to a dominant 7-0 win over South Africa in the battle of the Oceania and African champions.

Following the Australian’s comfortable victory, it was then the turn of the host nation to make their entrance at the tournament as they entertained England.

The Chilean crowd went home disappointed, however, as Esme Burge’s converted penalty corner after 18 minutes proved to be the winning goal, handing England a narrow 1-0 success.

In Pool D, China and Spain – both of whom are fielding two players who represented their country at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro – played out an entertaining 4-4 draw in arguably the pick of the opening day’s matches.

China looked to be heading for victory as they had a one-goal lead going into the dying stages but Spain’s Belen Iglesias was on hand to snatch a vital equaliser to rescue a late point.

Belgium went to the top of the group as they edged New Zealand 2-1.

Action in Pool B, which features Argentina, Germany, Japan and France, gets underway tomorrow.