NICE, France, June 9 (Xinhua) -- England survived a second-half scare as the Lionesses beat Scotland 2-1 in their Group D opener of FIFA Women's World Cup here on Sunday.

A pair of strikes from Nikita Parris and Ellen White put England firmly in charge at the first half, yet Scotland fought back after the break and seemed to be getting a lifeline.

It was Scotland's first appearance in the World Cup while England ranked third in 2015, the best performance they had in this tournament. England managed 3 wins over Scotland in their last 5 meetings and enjoyed a 6-0 victory two years ago.

England broke the deadlock in the 14th minute when Fran Kirby's cross hit Nicola Docherty's hand, and the referee awarded a penalty after viewing the VAR, Parris kept her cool to convert it.

Scotland's goalkeeper Lee Alexander made stunning save to deny White but still conceded the second in the 40th minute when White smashed in with a left attempt in the box.

England should have made it 3-0 seconds into the second half but was correctly flagged offside.

Scotland pulled one goal back on the 79 minutes when Lisa Evans won back possession and threaded through for Claire Emslie to drill home in a close range.

The debutants still had chances in the last minutes of the game, but England held off the pressure to claim the opening victory.

England will take on Argentina on June 14 in the second match while Scotland will meet Japan.