England vs. France Women's Soccer: Date, Time, Live Stream for 2018 Friendly

Phil Neville will take charge of his first competitive game as England women's manager in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday when his side take on France in the SheBelieves Cup.

The Lionesses, who are ranked as the third-best team in the world by FIFA, will meet the French in the tournament opener. And you sense there will be added scrutiny on their performances following the controversial appointment of the former Manchester United and Everton player.

France are the lowest seeds in the competition—the United States and Germany are the other two teams involved—and will be keen to get off to a strong start in defence of the title they won a year ago.

Read on for all the key viewing details for the SheBelieves Cup curtain-raiser and a preview of what's set to be a fascinating first game.

Date: Thursday, March 1

Time: 9 p.m. (GMT)/4 p.m. (ET)

TV Info: BBC Red Button (UK)

Live Stream:  BBC website (UK)

Neville Gets England Tenure Started

Warren Little/Getty Images

It would be fair to say Neville's spell as England boss hasn't got off to the best start, as his appointment was marred by a number of social media posts that emerged from his past containing sexist content.

Per Sky Sports, the 41-year-old has since apologised for the remarks made and has been focused on the upcoming tournament in the United States.

Speaking ahead of the showdown with France, Neville said he doesn't feel he has the backing of everyone in his new position.

"People want me to fail, 100 per cent, they want me to come here and lose all three games," he said, per Luke Edwards of the Daily Telegraph. "But do you know what? That's just how it was in my playing career. People wanted me to fail. That's part of my motivation."

The England Twitter account posted the following snap of Neville and his team on the way to the tournament:

Neville heads to the SheBelives Cup without a number of key players, as Karen Carney, Jordan Nobbs and skipper Steph Houghton have all been ruled out of the competition.

With the captain absent, Neville has his first big decision to make in the role of England boss in terms of selecting a stand-in. It appears as though Lyon's Lucy Bronze will get the nod; She Kicks editor Jen O'Neill believes that's a smart decision:

While England are currently ranked No. 3 in the world by FIFA and should be confident of going toe-to-toe with any team in the game, this competition represents a baptism of fire for the new coach.

France may be the weakest of the quartet of teams involved, although they are a technically sound outfit capable of mixing it with anyone. The United States, the world champions and the top-ranked side by FIFA, and Germany, ranked No. 2, are lying in wait for the Lionesses after Thursday's showdown.

Nick Wass/Associated Press

The talent is there for England to upset some illustrious opponents in the United States, though. As noted by Chris Henderson, there is some firepower in the squad:

France will need to be vigilant to snuff out any threat provided by those aforementioned players and will seek to dominate possession in this one, something they've done well against England in recent meetings.

The last time these two teams met was in a friendly in October when France grabbed a 1-0 win thanks to a late Viviane Asseyi goal. England will acquit themselves better on the big stage, but it's tough to separate these two outfits at the moment.