Women’s World Cup: England stuns co-host Australia to reach final

England reached the Women’s World Cup final for the first time thanks to a stunning 3-1 win over co-host Australia on Wednesday.

Ella Toone’s first-half goal gave England a deserved lead, which was later canceled out by Australia superstar Sam Kerr’s long-range stunner in the second half.

But Ellie Carpenter’s error in defense allowed Lauren Hemp to restore England’s lead, before Alessia Russo ended Australia’s hopes with a goal on the counterattack as the Matildas went in search of a late equalizer.

Led by the inimitable Kerr, Australia had real hopes of becoming just the second host nation ever to win a Women’s World Cup.

Though the disappointment will no doubt linger for some time, when the dust settles the team will be able to truly appreciate the impact of their performances on women’s football in the country, with record ticket sales, attendances and TV viewing figures coming to define this tournament.

Sam Kerr was unable to prevent Australia’s exit.

Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Her team has been criticized at times at this World Cup for its style of play but after winning the European Championships last summer, this is now the second consecutive major tournament in which England has reached the final.

Wiegman’s incredible record in charge of the Lionesses now stands at just one defeat – a friendly against Australia – in 38 games, while she is now the first coach to take two different teams to the Women’s World Cup final after also leading the Netherlands there in 2019.

“The one thing I’ve always wanted is to make the final of the World Cup and after coming close twice, I can’t put this into words,” England defender Lucy Bronze told the BBC after the match.

“We played the game how we wanted to; we were determined, resilient. We knew the crowd was going to be crazy tonight, [Wiegman spoke about] silencing them and I feel like we did that with the third goal.

“We all dreamed about being in the final and all our family and friends stayed here until the final because they believed in us. It’s been amazing to play Australia in Australia, they’ve had a fantastic tournament.”