Captain Christine Sinclair got hosts Canada off to a winning start at the Women's World Cup on Sunday (AEST) with a dramatic last-gasp penalty in a 1-0 win over Group A rivals China.

The 31-year-old stepped up two minutes into time added on to convert a controversial penalty awarded for a foul on Kaylyn Kyle by Zhao Rong in the box.

And with the experience of her 15 years with the national team Sinclair coolly slotted the ball past Wang Fei in the Chinese goal to jubilation among the 53,000 crowd at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

"Only one woman in the world could step up like that in the 90th minute and write that script," said coach John Herdman after Sinclair achieved the 154th goal of her career.

"Cometh the hour, cometh the woman. It's always going to end the right way with Sinclair."

The Olympic bronze medallists had been desperate for all three points to set themselves up as challengers at their home tournament.

For the young Chinese team, nicknamed The Steel Roses, it was a first defeat in their opening match of a World Cup.

In a dour first half which produced few real scoring opportunities, Canada's Kadeisha Buchanan got the first shot at goal after three minutes but Wang held firm.

China also had chances with midfielder Wang Lisi hitting the post after 23 minutes, quickly followed by Canada's Josee Belanger rattling the crossbar and a Jonelle Filigno effort just off target.

China pushed forward after the break with an angled ball into the box escaping Ren Guixin, marked closely by Buchanan on 58 minutes.

Wang drew jeers from the crowd as she took her time with a goal-kick, as China looked to be after a point.

With 10 minutes to go and boosted by cheers of 'Let's go Canada, Let's go!' resounding around the stadium Sinclair had a chance to break the deadlock after 76 minutes but her header went wide.

With the clock ticking, another Sinclair effort went straight into the hand of the Chinese goalie, with a long range Sophie Schmidt effort flying just left of a diving Wang in goal.

But there was drama in store when Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul pointed to the spot in favour of Canada on 90 minutes, setting up a fairytale start to the campaign for the hosts.

Canada next play New Zealand on Friday (AEST) while China take on the Netherlands the same day.

AFP