Ghana's U-20 women's national team had a troubling start to their FIFA Women's World Cup after losing to Ecuador.

The Black Princesses suffered a 3-0 loss to debutants Ecuador in their opening game of the tournament, which is being played in Poland.

Head coach Charles Sampson was without centre-back Margaret Agyapomaa, who was sent off in the final qualifier against Uganda.

Ecuador settled into the competition, brilliantly scoring after just two minutes to open the scoring against Ghana.

The Black Princesses struggled to break down the South Americans, as they were unable to string passes together.

Just when Sampson's side seemed to be settling into the game, Ecuador struck against just before the break to double their lead in the fixture.

The Black Princesses went into the break trailing by two goals, with hopes of fighting back to secure a point at least.

However, they were punished once again as Ecuador netted inside 24 minutes after the recess to wrap up all three points in their opening fixture.

The defeat leaves Ghana with just one win in their opening games at the World Cup since making their debut in 2010.

The Princesses will face South Korea and France in their next two games with the two teams playing out a 1-1 draw in the other Group C fixture.