Women's World Cup Groups 2015: Group Standings and Tables After Saturday

The 2015 Women's World Cup is officially underway after Canada's 1-0 win over China, while the Netherlands beat New Zealand by the same score.

Although Saturday wasn't the most electric start to the tournament one could've envisaged, it's still very early. Most of the teams will likely need a little bit of time before they find a comfort level in Canada.

Below you'll find brief recaps for the first two fixtures of the Women's World Cup.

Women's World Cup Group Tables

	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Canada	1	1	0	0	1	3
Netherlands	1	1	0	0	1	3
China	1	0	0	1	-1	0
New Zealand	1	0	0	1	-1	0

	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Germany	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cote d'Ivoire	0	0	0	0	0	0
Norway	0	0	0	0	0	0
Thailand	0	0	0	0	0	0

	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0
Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cameroon	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ecuador	0	0	0	0	0	0

	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
United States	0	0	0	0	0	0
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sweden	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nigeria	0	0	0	0	0	0

	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0
Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0
Costa Rica	0	0	0	0	0	0

	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
France	0	0	0	0	0	0
England	0	0	0	0	0	0
Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0

Saturday Results

Canada 1, China 0

Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

Canada captain Christine Sinclair salvaged three points with a late penalty to beat China 1-0 in the opening match of the Women's World Cup.

For nearly 92 minutes Saturday, the host nation tried and failed to break down the Chinese back line. Barring the occasional brief counter or dangerous free kick, China spent the majority of the match in its own half foiling each and every one of Canada's attacks.

Wang Lisi nearly snatched a goal for China after her free kick hit the left post and then the right post and bounced out in the 23rd minute. That proved to be China's best chance of the match.

Canada didn't create too many goal-scoring opportunities, either. Josee Belanger hit the crossbar in the 27th minute, while Sophie Schmidt and Ashley Lawrence each had shots close to goal blocked by Chinese defenders in the 36th minute.

In the second minute of second-half stoppage time, Canada received its reprieve. Zhao Rong elbowed Adriana Leon near the throat, and the referee pointed to the spot. The call could've gone either way. There was contact, but Canada couldn't have felt wronged if the decision had gone the other way.

Joe Krishnan of the Independent wasn't so sure that a penalty was warranted:

The referee's decision was final, and Sinclair scored from the spot to hand Canada the victory.

Canada coach John Herdman knew that his team didn't play particularly well Saturday, but he feels it will solve some of the glaring issues, per NBC Sports' Jeff Kassouf:

The result was certainly a bit rough for China, who played so well for nearly the entire match. Its tactics weren't aesthetically pleasing but effective all the same. China had little reason to expect that it could match Canada player for player, so bunkering in and defending was the team's best strategy.

Few consider Canada to be the favorite to win the Women's World Cup, but it's one of those teams in the conversation. With that said, it will have to perform much better going forward if it has any hope of advancing deep in the tournament.

Netherlands 1, New Zealand 0

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

What the Netherlands' 1-0 win over New Zealand lacked in a high volume of goals, it made up for with Lieke Martens' 33rd-minute strike. The 22-year-old split two New Zealand defenders and thundered a curling right-footed shot into the far post.

Soccer writer Caitlin Murray felt the goal only got better with each replay:

Not only was it the eventual game-winning goal in the match, it was also the Netherlands' first Women's World Cup goal ever. Fox Sports 1's Julie Stewart-Binks spoke to Martens, who called it "a dream come true."

Soccer writer Leander Schaerlaeckens was happy to see the Dutch women's team prevail after the men's national team threw away a 3-1 lead in a friendly defeat to the United States yesterday:

The match got a bit plodding in the second half as the Dutch looked to protect their lead. They took fewer chances and dropped deeper in order to flummox the Ferns. Much like China's tactics against Canada, the Netherlands didn't earn any style points with how they played, but you can't argue with the result.

In the end, both the Netherlands and New Zealand split possession right down the middle, per FIFA.com. The Ferns also managed to have more total shots (11) and more shots on target (six), but Martens' early goal put them behind and they couldn't recover.

It looks as though Canada and the Netherlands will be the class of Group A. Neither team was entirely convincing, but taking three points from your first match at a knockout tournament is worth its weight in gold.

Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until June 15 to see the two countries clash.

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