FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: England reach first ever World Cup final with 3-1 win over co-hosts Australia
Victory over co-hosts Australia in Sydney sees England’s Lionesses progress to their first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup final.
Football
England beat co-hosts Australia 3-1 in Sydney on Wednesday (16 August) to reach the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final.
The Lionesses will face Spain in the final on Sunday.
Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp, and Alessia Russo scored England's goals in the semi-final at Stadium Australia, where the Sydney 2000 Olympics were held.
Sam Kerr scored Australia's goal to level the scores at 1-1 after the hour, but the co-hosts had no match for England's late charge.
It's a first Women's World Cup final for European Champions England.
Australia will play against Sweden in the third-fourth place playoff for bronze.
Australia 1-3 England
The Lionesses started the game on the front foot, clicking into a gear that we have only witnessed glimpses of this tournament, but it didn’t take long for co-hosts Australia to create valuable chances.
An evenly matched opening half an hour came to an end when Ella Toone rocketed her effort past Mackenzie Arnold and into the top corner, sending England into the half time break with a 1-0 advantage.
England had truly met their match in Australia, with this game a tempo above any other match-up the two sides had played so far this tournament.
Less than twenty minutes after the restart, it was none other than Sam Kerr who equalled the scoreline for the Matildas.
Her incredible long-range strike ignited a fire within the co-hosts as England struggled to contain their attacking runs, but just eight minutes later winger Lauren Hemp gave the Lionesses the lead again as she took advantage of an Australian defensive mix up.
As Australia desperately searched for another equaliser, Kerr sent a close range attempt wide - arguably one of their best chances of the game.
In the 86th minute, previous goalscorer Lauren Hemp delivered a stunning ball through to Alessia Russo who calmly slotted it past Mackenzie Arnold to book England a place in their first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup final.
Ella Toone opened the scoring for England in their 3-1 win over Australia
Although Australia’s journey to the final is over, they now find themselves with one last fixture to play.
They will face Sweden on Saturday (19 August) in Brisbane to battle it out for third place at their home soil FIFA Women’s World Cup.
As for England, they now progress through to their first ever Women’s World Cup final against Spain on Sunday (20 August) in Sydney.
Should they win, they will become the first team since Germany in 2005 to win a back-to-back Women’s European Championship and Women’s World Cup.