OneFootball
Padraig Whelan·7 August 2023
In partnership with
Yahoo sportsOneFootball
Padraig Whelan·7 August 2023
With the World Cup taking place in Australia and New Zealand, plenty of fans around the world will be in bed when some of the games take place. Not to worry, we have you covered.
England needed a penalty shootout to edge out Nigeria after a scoreless 120 minutes.
Hosts Australia marched on as two deadly counter-attacks saw them advance at the expense of Denmark.
England’s Lauren James has been one of the standout players of the tournament so far.
She put in one of the greatest individual performances in World Cup history in the 6-1 win over China last week but went from hero to villain in the victory over Nigeria.
James saw red for a rash stamp which will now see her miss the quarter-final and potentially more should the Lionesses advance.
It was a moment of madness that could still have a big impact on England’s tournament.
Her through ball for Caitlin Foord’s opener was one of the finest passes of the tournament so far, picking her out perfectly from deep.
It was also her strong running forward which led to the second and killed off any hope of a Danish comeback.
It was devastating not just for Australians but the footballing public as a whole when they lost star player Sam Kerr on the eve of the tournament to injury, which threatened to prevent her taking part on home soil.
But she made her long-awaited comeback late in the victory over Denmark.
England’s win was the first time they have ever advanced from a World Cup knockout game after going down to 10 players across both the men’s and women’s games, with David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Millie Bright being sent off in previous defeats.