Ella Toone’s superb strike opened the scoring for England; Sam Kerr replied with an equally as stunning effort; Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo added goals later in the second half to secure England’s place in Sunday’s final against Spain
England have made more history, reaching their first Women’s World Cup final after beating Australia 3-1 to set up a showdown with Spain on Sunday.
The pre-match amble focused on who would be considered the underdog – the Euro 2022 champions or tournament co-hosts – as well as the rich sporting history between the two countries.
And it all made for an entertaining semi-final at Stadium Australia. England drew first blood as Ella Toone (36) curled home a superb effort as the Matildas conceded their first World Cup goal since the second group game against Nigeria – a run of well over five hours.
Australia saw their talismanic captain Sam Kerr return to the XI, and she had her inevitable say in proceedings in the 63rd minute, hammering a sensational effort home from around 25 yards.
But England’s tournament pedigree began to shine through as Lauren Hemp (71) saw the Lionesses back ahead soon after, before Alessia Russo (86) made sure of their spot in Sunday’s showpiece final against Spain.
Australia saw their talismanic captain Sam Kerr return to the XI, and she had her inevitable say in proceedings in the 63rd minute, hammering a sensational effort home from around 25 yards.
But England’s tournament pedigree began to shine through as Lauren Hemp (71) saw the Lionesses back ahead soon after, before Alessia Russo (86) made sure of their spot in Sunday’s showpiece final against Spain.
England manager Sarina Wiegman was almost speechless following the game, telling BBC Sport: “We achieved the final! It’s unbelievable, it feels like we won [the tournament] which we didn’t, we just won this game – in an incredible stadium, an away game, the way we played – it was a hard game, but we found a way to win again.
