England fans are set for another tense summer sporting showdown with Australia as the Lionesses seek to book their place in the Women’s World Cup final.
The build-up to the game in Sydney had a slightly sour tone to it – with tickets allocated to England fans being snapped up by Matildas supporters and a helicopter funded by the Australian Daily Telegraph spying on a training session.
The newspaper’s stunt culminated in a piece with the title “11 Poms against a nation: Welcome to the Jungle, Lionesses”.
According to the article, England were in for a “rude shock” if they thought they could quietly prepare.
The Lionesses booked their place in the semi-finals alongside the host nation following a 2-1 win against Colombia on Saturday.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sent a good luck message to the team ahead of the tie – telling The Sun newspaper the “nation’s hopes of beating the Aussies now rest on our Lionesses”.
His comments follow the Ashes cricket series in which England fought back to draw 2-2.
The five-match series saw a number of controversial moments – with one prompting opening batsman David Warner to tweet “just keep an eye out in case the Poms ask to change the ball” in reference to an allegedly favourable ball given to England in the final test.
But Rishi Sunak urged the Lionesses to “take the fight” to Australia “in their backyard”.
He told The Sun: “It’s been an amazing summer of sport for our country and having fought back from the brink to draw the Ashes, it’s time to finish the job.
“The nation’s hopes of beating the Aussies now rest on our Lionesses.
“They’re just one win away from creating history by reaching their first World Cup final.
“They’ll take the fight to them in their backyard and we’ll all be roaring them on back home.”
As well as the words exchanged between supporters of both sides, the FA said it was “disappointed” to hear reports of tickets specifically allocated to England fans being bought by Australians.
The additional 1,970 tickets were released at the weekend, and about 8,000 England fans were expected to be in attendance at the Accor Stadium in Sydney.
The FA said it was working with Fifa to review its ticketing processes going forwards.
Back in England, fans put out flags and bunting ahead of the fixture and pubs and fan parks prepared to welcome supporters in the morning for the 11am kick-off time.
On the Kirby Estate in London, a huge number of flags were put on display, as well as a mural to injured midfielder Fran Kirby.
