England v Belgium: Women’s Nations League – live

43 min Kelly plays a one-two on the left with Toone and pokes the ball off to Russo, whose swept shot is too close to Evrard.

40 min Detruyer guides a fine pass down the inside-right channel to Wullaert. She has no support so takes the shot on from the right edge of the area. It hits Bright and rebounds for a throw-in.

37 min With Belgium camped in their own third, Bright moves forward and thunders a long-range shot that is deflected behind for another corner.

34 min Although they have dominated throughout, England won’t feel comfortable at 1-0. Belgium have shown enough in attack, Wullaert in particular, to ward off any complacency.

31 min “England have three goalkeepers on the bench?” says Andrew Sherman. “I suppose this is to give Khiara Keating a taste of the action?”

I think all the available players are on the bench – Lauren James and Lucy Parker have pulled out. The days of two subs, if you’re lucky, are long gone.

30 min Bright belts a crossfield pass to Charles, who heads it cleverly back inside to Hemp. She draws the keeper and knocks the ball across the face of goal, but Russo can’t quite get there under pressure from De Neve. Shame as that was an excellent move.

28 min The resulting corner is headed on and reaches Missipo beyond the far post. She chests the ball down but slices wide under pressure from Charles. Good defending rather than a bad miss.

28 min The wily Wullaert pulls out left to receive a long pass forward. She moves into the area and hits a cross that deflects off Bright and spins just wide of the far post.

26 min Russo is first to Greenwood’s near-post corner, but her header hits a challenging Belgian defender and goes behind for another.

25 min Greenwood tries to hold off Missipo but ends up elbowing her on the nose. The referee settles for a word, though it could easily have been a yellow card.

23 min Every time I say England are on top, Belgium create something. After a game of head tennis on the edge of the area, Walsh miskicks a clearance straight to Vangheluwe, but she doesn’t connect properly with a first-time shot and Earps saves easily.

23 min Greenwood pings a sweet long-range drive that is pushed away by Evrard, jumping to her left. England are well on top.

20 min Belgium are defending very deep, looking for counter-attacks. That one early chance aside, it hasn’t worked thus far.

19 min Greenwood’s sliderule pass towards Charles is cut out on the edge of the area. The ball runs to Toone, who cracks a first-time shot that is well held by Evrard.

17 min England look relaxed and confident going forward, which hasn’t always been the case in the past year or so. A 4-1-2-3 formation feels right for this team, though it’s not a straightforward decision because Lauren James is most dangerous at No10.

15 min That’s Lauren Hemp’s 15th goal for England, which is pretty good going for a 23-year-old.

Chloe Kelly’s inswinging corner from the left was met by Millie Bright, whose backheader bounced off the far post. The ball bounced back towards Hemp, who snapped a volley into the net from close range.

GOAL! England 1-0 Belgium (Hemp 13)

11 min Belgium, in the parlance of our time, are growing into the game. We haven’t seen a replay of that Earps saved but live it looked sensational.

9 min: Brilliant save by Earps! Yeah, I went too early with the whole mismatch thing, because Belgium should be ahead. The corner was only half cleared, back out to Wullaert on the right. She lobbed a dangerous cross towards Vanhaevermaet, whose powerful header was saved spectacularly, two-handed to her left, by the flying Earps. I thought she would only be able to push it into the net, given the lack of reaction time, but somehow she kept it out.

8 min That’s more like it from Belgium. Wullaert breaks forward and plays a nice reverse pass to Delacauw, whose shot from the edge of the area hits Bright and goes behind for a corner.

7 min You can never be sure in sport, but at the moment this looks like a mismatch. In fact, based on the first seven minutes it’s hard to fathom that Belgium beat the Netherlands last month. Maybe they’re a stronger side at home.

6 min England have made an impressively fast start, just like the old days. Stanway wins the ball high up the field and finds Hemp on the left side of the area, but her chipped cross is too deep for Kelly at the far post.

3 min Belgium are struggling to get out of their half. Russo’s cutback from the right breaks for Hemp, whose rising drive is clawed away by Evrard. Toone is first to the rebound but heads wide from eight yards. She looked conscious of Evrard charging towards her, and in fairness Evrard did collide with her after the ball had gone. It was a really good chance.

2 min Charles is so polished when she attacks from left-back, particularly when she cuts inside on her right foot.

1 min A fast start from England. Charles makes a thrilling run into the area before being tackled. That leads to a bit of a scramble until eventually Charles, who stayed up, hooks a bouncing ball over the bar from 12 yards.

1 min Peep peep! After the players take a knee, England kick off from left to right as we watch.

Full time: Republic of Ireland 5-1 Albania Ireland’s flawless Nations League campaign continues: P3 W3 D0 L0 F12 A1. They’re heading for promotion to League A, or whatever we’re supposed to call it.

The players walk out to a rapturous reception from a sell-out crowd at the King Power Stadium. English football is in a pretty healthy place right now.

Katie McCabe has scored a hat-trick for the Republic of Ireland, who now lead Albania 5-1. Kyra Carusa is also on a hat-trick.

“Hi Rob!” writes Ruby Gough. “This match is an interesting one for me and my family. We were born and live in England but I’m 1/8 Belgian so supporting both sides today. Excited for the match!”

It’s a win-win situation, unless they draw I suppose.

The other home nations are all in action today. You can get all the results and latest scores on our live scores page.

Group A1

Group A3

Group B1

Suzanne Wrack’s preview

The growth of the women’s game means new pressures for the players, including the onerous task of being famous in a world full of poison.

Team news

Preamble