Both sides underlined their status as tournament favourites, although Spain had to come from a goal behind as they defeated Finland 4-1 in Milton Keynes, England.

Finland took a shock lead just 50 seconds into the match as Linda Sällström placed a through ball from Anna Westerlund into the corner of the net to give the Boreal Owls a surprise lead.

Spain levelled in the 26^th minute making their pressure from a series of corners tell as Irene Paredes headed in.

The Spaniards took the lead just before the break when Aitana Bonmatí’s looping header from a Mapi León cross made it 2-1.

A third headed goal put Spain in control in the 75^th minute, as a León free-kick was headed in by Lucía García to give La Roja a two-goal advantage.

Spain added late gloss to the scoreline as they were awarded a penalty in stoppage time, with Mariona Caldentey’s strike from the spot proving to be the final kick of the match.

The match at stadium:mk was watched by 16,819 spectators - a tournament record crowd for a match not involving the host nation.

In the second match of the day, eight-time Women’s European Championship winners Germany also sent out a statement of intent with a 4-0 win over Denmark in London.

Felicitas Rauch twice hit the woodwork in the early stages as Germany dominated, and they took the lead when Lina Magull took advantage of sloppy Denmark defending and rifled into the net to make it 1-0.

Germany doubled their lead just before the hour mark at the Brentford Community Stadium when Lea Schüller headed in from a corner to make it 2-0.

After hitting the woodwork with her first touch, German substitute Lena Lattwein found the net on 78 minutes with her powerful strike making it 3-0.

A diving header from fellow substitute Alexandra Popp made it 4-0 late on, before a miserable night for the Danes was compounded when Kathrine Møller Kühl was dismissed as she received a second yellow card for a foul.

The next round of Group B games are scheduled for Tuesday (July 12) with Spain and Germany meeting in an appetising encounter between two pre-tournament favourites, while Finland face Denmark with both sides looking to get off the mark in the group.

Group C is due to begin tomorrow, with Portugal taking on Switzerland in Leigh, before holders The Netherlands begin their title defence against Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medallists Sweden in Sheffield.