Alex Popp is on fire! Striker nets twice as Germany lay down the Women's World Cup's first marker in thrashing of Morocco

• Two-time champions start campaign with a bang
• Popp scored twice before half-time
• Buhl, Schuller & two own goals help make it a big win

TELL ME MORE: It took the Wolfsburg striker just 11 minutes to break the deadlock, Morocco goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi misjudging Kathrin Hendrich's pinpoint cross to give Popp an empty goal to aim at once she got her head on it instead. Before the break, she doubled that lead, this time connecting with Klara Buhl's corner to put the two-time champions in a commanding position.

Morocco, making their debut at the tournament, didn't play badly and produced a number of positive signs, most notably when Anissa Lahmari played Fatima Tagnaout through on goal, only for the winger to hesitate one-on-one with Merle Frohms and allow Germany to get rid of the danger. The offside flag went up in the aftermath, but replays showed it was extremely close.

However, Germany made it three in the first minute of the second half, Buhl's excellent work down the left initially resulting in Lina Magull hitting the woodwork, but Buhl made her way into the box to latch onto the loose ball and confidently fire it home. Morocco's misery was compounded when Hanane Ait El Haj and Zineb Redouani both inadvertently put the ball into the back of their own net, before Lea Schuller would round off the scoring from close range in a huge win for one of the favourites to win this tournament.

THE MVP: Who else but Popp? The forward went into last summer's Euros off the back of a difficult season, one which saw her massively limited by injury. This time around, she comes into the World Cup having won the Frauen Bundesliga Golden Boot and fired Wolfsburg to a Champions League final. She's in incredible form and she showed it on Monday.

THE BIG LOSER: Honestly, the rest of Group H. In this first round of World Cup games, we've seen a lot of the big contenders for the title struggle - but Germany were sharp as ever in their first outing, without really having to work too hard, either. The Euro 2022 runners-up are expected to win their group - which also features Colombia and South Korea - and their future opponents will have some challenge in stopping them in this form.

MATCH IN THREE PHOTOS:

WHAT NEXT? Both teams are back in action on Sunday, with Morocco facing South Korea in the first game of the day before Germany take on Colombia later on.

MATCH RATING (OUT OF FIVE): ⭐⭐⭐