The Lionesses have secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup after beating Colombia 2-1.
Colombia led the match with Leicy Stantos’s goal 44 minutes in after she looped a shot over Mary Earps from the right, but England’s Lauren Hemp managed to equalise just minutes before half time after a mistake from goalkeeper Catalina Perez.
But it was Alessia Russo who secured England’s winning goal 63 minutes in, lobbing the ball into the bottom left corner from inside the penalty area which gave the Lionesses the lead.
England v Colombia – follow live reaction
Alessia Russo scored England’s winning goal 63 minutes into the match
Shortly after, Colombia’s Perez left the pitch with an injury and was subbed for Natalia Giraldo.
Sarina Wiegman’s team will now face co-hosts Australia in the semi-finals on Wednesday 16 August, with kick off at 11am UK time.
Speaking after the match, Russo told ITV: “It’s exciting, what more do you want in front of a home crowd?
“We got a bit of that tonight against Colombia. You want to play against the best teams. England fans can always dare to dream but we’ll carry on working hard,” Russo said.
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Lauren Hemp scored England’s first goal in the quarter-final game against Colombia
Colombia were the lowest-ranked team remaining at 25 and had never made it past the tournament’s round of 16.
But this in this tournament their team eliminated world number two side Germany with a 2-1 victory in the group stage and looked to complete another giant-killing here.
For the Lionesses, England’s Ella Toone had stepped in for the suspended Lauren James who was handed a red card for standing on the back of Michelle Alozie in the Lionesses last match against Nigeria which resulted in a 4-2 shootout win.
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The tense match comes after Australia secured their spot in the semi-finals this morning following a dramatic penalty shootout with France.
Australia were 7-6 winners after the spot-kicks, which featured seven missed penalties combined.
