England Women boss Mark Sampson has vowed to figure out why his team surrendered a winning position against France in Philadelphia.
Jordan Nobbs fired the Lionesses ahead just after the half-hour mark and they remained in front until the 80th minute, but two late France goals gave Les Bleues a 2-1 win in the SheBelieves Cup opener.
England have not beaten France since 1974, and after seeing a golden opportunity to end that barren run slide by on Wednesday night, Sampson admitted the defeat had been painful.
"The players' effort was excellent, but I will sit down with my coaching staff and work out where we went wrong in the second half," Sampson said.
"I'm disappointed and frustrated. We're still on a journey. We've got to find a way to win these games."
He added, on thefa.com: "I need to watch the game back but we struggled in the second half.
"I tried to make a change to address that but it wasn't the right change. I hold my hands up."
Sampson made four substitutions after the break, and England were stung in the fifth minute of stoppage time by Wendie Renard's headed winner.
The England head coach added: "We could have scored three or four in the first half but a team like France are always going to come back at you."
England play world champions the United States in their second match of the round-robin tournament in New Jersey on Saturday.
Source: PA
