England to face Spain in Women’s World Cup final

• England beat Australia 3-1 on Wednesday afternoon to book a spot in the Women’s World Cup final for the first time in history
• The Lionesses will battle European rivals Spain for the title on Sunday

England beat Australia 3-1 on Wednesday afternoon to book a spot in the Women’s World Cup final for the first time in history. The Lionesses are the first English side to reach the final on the world stage and will battle European rivals Spain for the title.

England dominated the game in the first half and it was just a matter of time before they eventually opened the scoring. Ella Ann Toone’s goal in the 36th minute silenced a sell-out crowd at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

The Lionesses have reached the World Cup final for the first time in history. Photo/ Sky News.

Australia threw everything they had after the break and their efforts eventually paid off in the 63rd minute when Sam Kerr suddenly produced a moment of magic. The 29-year-old’s strike brought Australia back into the game but it was just for a moment as England once again restored their lead through Lauren Hemp.

Alessia Russo then sealed the win for The Lionesses in the last five minutes of the game. England created history by reaching the World Cup final for the first time.

Speaking after England beat Australia, manager Sarina Wiegman told BBC Sports: “We achieved the final! Unbelievable, it feels like we won the whole thing but we didn’t. An away game at this incredible stadium, it was a hard game but again, we found a way to win. We scored three goals, in this team there is ruthlessness, up front and defence. We really want to win. We stick together and we stick to the plan and it worked again.”

How The Game Unfolded

Silencing a 75,000-strong crowd in Sydney was not an easy task for England; nevertheless, they did. The Lionesses were competing in their third successive Women’s World Cup semi-final. On the other hand, Australia were playing in their first-ever World Cup semi-final. They had not conceded a goal in over five hours of action at the tournament and their success was based on a tight defence and rapier-like counter-attacks.

Despite’s Australia having home support, England’s experience at the big stage was evident from the word go. The Lionesses dominated possession but were almost caught when Hayley Raso found the space to shoot from six yards. His shot was, however, deflected wide.

Having kept four clean sheets since the start of the tournament, Australia were happy to invite pressure. However, they landed in trouble when Ella Toone unleashed an unstoppable strike towards the end of the first half.

England were leading at the break and looked determined to win the game after suffering heartbreaks at the 2015 and 2019 WWC semi-finals. Sarina Wiegman’s side almost doubled the lead after the break but Lauren Hemp’s effort turned futile.

Sam Kerr suddenly released a superb strike from 25 yards that sailed over goalkeeper Mary Earps’ head to make it 1-1. However, the game was decided by Hemp and Russo’s amazing partnership up front for England.

Lauren Hemp leads her teammates in celebrating after scoring England’s second goal. Photo/ Sports Illustrated.