England 2-1 Colombia: Lionesses secure place in World Cup semi-finals

England are through to the semi-finals, but the Lionesses will be under heightened pressure next week when they play against a home crowd, ITV News' Steve Scott reports

The Lionesses have secured a place in the Women's World Cup semi-finals after their 2-1 victory over Colombia.

England started off at a disadvantage, with tournament standout Lauren James receiving a two-game ban for treading on Nigerian defender Michelle Alozie.

Colombia scored the opening goal, but coach Sarina Wiegman's side fought back with an equaliser right before the second half, and a winning goal after the 60th minute.

The Lionesses will now go on to play the tournament's co-hosts, Australia, next Wednesday in Sydney with hopes of making it to the final.

England started off strongly and dominated possession in the first half, with both Alessia Russo and Rachel Daly both having early opportunities to score.

Meanwhile Colombian defender Carolina Arias was forced off the pitch very early on following a collision in the penalty box, being replaced by Ana Guzman.

The South American side pushed through, with Leicy Santos securing the lead with a curling shot on goal at the 44-minute mark.

However six minutes into injury time, England's Lauren Hemp seized upon a mistake by Colombia's goalkeeper to level the score right before the half-time whistle.

Then, at the 62nd minute, Arsenal striker Russo managed to secure the lead with a shot from within the box.

Santos made a determined attempt to score another goal but failing to get past England goalkeeper Mary Earps.

Colombia fought hard to level the score throughout the second-half, but the Lionesses looked comfortable on the pitch as they maintained their lead until the final whistle.

The Lionesses are unbeaten at the tournament thus far, but the South American side were anticipated to be England's biggest challenge yet.

At 25th, Colombia were the lowest placed of the quarter-finalists in FIFA rankings, but they were not to be underestimated.

Having eliminated world number two side Germany with a 2-1 victory in the group stage, they looked to complete another giant-killing today - but fell just short.

Wiegman is also a step closer to her second consecutive Women's World Cup final after her Netherlands team was runner-up to the United States in 2019. England lost in the semifinals in 2015 and 2019, going out to Japan and the United States, respectively.

Wiegman led the Lionesses to victory in the European Championship last year, having won that competition with Netherlands in 2017.

She admitted she was unaware of just how big the rivalry is between England and Australia, saying she needs to brush up on the feud.

"I’ve had a couple of questions about that now so it’s probably going to be bigger than I imagined now," Wiegman said on Saturday.

"So I’ll talk to my players and staff and see what that rivalry is then.

"I think the Australians and English can get along really well, and we’ve had such a warm welcome here, we’ve really enjoyed our time here in Australia, and I actually really like the people here.

"But that doesn’t mean there’s no rivalry, so we’ll see that Wednesday."

With many of the favourites, including America, Germany, France and Japan, already eliminated, England will be increasingly confident that it can win its first Women's World Cup.

Earps’ feels her faith in her side to find another gear is justified by what the FIFA Best award-winning keeper sees from her team-mates every time they train at the Central Coast Stadium.

She added: “I think the most important thing to note about that is the fact that we’ve been winning games.

“We’re in a results business, and we’ve earned the right to be in the position we’re in today. But obviously I experience training every day, I know the players personally, and I’ve had the privilege of working with them for some time.

“I can see it just day to day. I just can see the talent in the team. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we’ve been bad by any means, but I think you have seen glimpses of what we’re capable of.

“We as a team know the standard we want to get to. Our efforts have been 110 per cent and we’ve driven out and we’ve grinded out those results.

“However, in terms of the way that we’d like to dominate games and the way that we’d like to go about our business. I think as a group, we’re excited by that challenge of knowing that we think we can do more.”

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