produced a dominant display to hammer China 6-1 in Adelaide and surge into the last 16 as winners of Group D.
made an unexpected change to the formation of the team, switching to 3-5-2 from a 4-3-3, which proved to be a tactical masterclass as the Lionesses mauled their opponents from kick-off.
A smart finish from Alessia Russo put England ahead just four minutes into the contest, with Lauren Hemp and Lauren James also netting before the half-time break.
It could have been even worse for China had a wonderful curling James not been controversially ruled out for offside just moments before the interval.
China got a lifeline early in the second half when a VAR review handed them a penalty for a Lucy Bronze handball, which Wang Shuang rolled down the middle and into the back of the net.
Weigman’s side were unfazed, though, as James grabbed a second in stunning style and Chloe Kelly came off the bench to take advantage of a goalkeeping howler to make it five for England.
It was all too easy late on as Rachel Daly slammed home a sixth against a dispirited and disappointing China side.
in the last 16 in Brisbane on 7 August after finishing the group stage with three wins from three and just that one penalty kick conceded.
Hemp, Katie Zelem and Jess Carter came into the side, with the injured Keira Walsh, Chloe Kelly and Ella Toone dropping out of the team in the unusual formation for the Lionesses.
The change brought a blistering start from England, with Russo needing just four minutes to break the deadlock.
It was the Arsenal forward’s smart work on the left flank which created the move, playing in Hemp who saw her cross cut out, but James nodded the ball down to Russo who found the bottom corner.
James was provider again on 26 minutes after Millie Bright was sharp to win the ball in the centre-circle and laid it off to the Chelsea star.
It was a brilliantly weighted through ball from James to Hemp and the Manchester City forward’s first touch matched it before finishing calmly.
England were full of confidence and attacking China at will by this point, and despite the Chinese attempts to defend compactly and keep it tight, they were not stopping chances being created.
There was then a terrible blunder from China on 41 minutes as they left James unmarked on the edge of a box as England had a free-kick towards the right-hand corner flag. Alex Greenwood simply rolled the ball to the 21-year-old who whipped a shot into the far corner of the goal to make it 3-0.
James was unlucky to see another brilliant strike ruled out for a Lucy Bronze offside just before half-time, but that disappointment would be put behind her after the break.
Not before China enjoyed a bright spell immediately after half-time, though, when they earned some sustained possession for the first time in the match and then won a penalty.
Bronze was unlucky to give away the spot-kick as a ball across the penalty box bounced up into her arm as she tried to pull her limb out of danger and behind her back.
VAR gave the decision against England, though, and Wang calmly rolled an effort down the middle as Mary Earps dived to her left.
China had their tails up and were back in the game with their goal shortly before the hour mark, but on 65 minutes it was the fantastic James who Ki**ed off their momentum.
Jess Carter swung in a ball from deep to the back post where James made a difficult finish look oh so easy, side-footing the ball back across the goalkeeper and into the far top corner.
Kelly will have been disappointed not to be in the starting XI but she made the most of her substitute appearance, racing onto a ball over the top from, you guessed it, James and eventually slotting home.
That was not before China’s ‘keeper Zhu Yu somewhat inexplicably ran out of her penalty box, straight past the ball and allowed Kelly to roll the ball into an empty net.
As the clock ticked down, Daly got on the score sheet, hammering an effort past Zhu from close range.
It was a scrappy build-up, with a Laura Coombs effort deflected into the path of Daly, but she made no mistake with the powerful finish to continue to pile the misery onto China.
Mary Earps was forced into an impressive save at full strength late on but, despite 11 minutes of injury time, Daly’s effort was the end of the scoring and England progress along with Denmark in second place in Group D after they beat Haiti 2-0.
, . ,  and .
