Denmark coach Lars Sondergaard told his players on Thursday that it would be "a mortal sin" not to relish playing European champions England at the Women's World Cup.

The two teams meet in Group D on Friday and both are on course for the last 16 after winning their opening matches of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

England's Lionesses failed to sparkle in beating debutants Haiti 1-0 thanks to a penalty but they are still among the favourites to deny the United States a third crown in a row.

With the majority of the Sydney crowd also likely to be behind Sarina Wiegman's side, Sondergaard acknowledged that his team were clear underdogs against "superpower" England.

But he said on the eve of the match: "We hope we can spring a surprise.

"We have settled now, we have our first game under our belt, that has eased our nerves.

"There's a World Cup every four years, you don't get many of these opportunities in your career," he added.

"It would be a mortal sin not to enjoy it."

Denmark are ranked 13th in the world to England's fourth, but their skipper Pernille Harder said they will be helped by their intricate knowledge of the opposition.

Half a dozen of the Danish team play in England and Harder knows many of the England players well having spent three years with Chelsea.

In contrast, she said that they knew almost nothing about the China team, who they defeated 1-0 with an 89th-minute winner to start their World Cup.

"We will do everything we can to make it difficult for England," she said.

"Maybe they had a bad start, but we know that they can come to the next game and be amazing."