England are into the Women’s World Cup final after beating Australia 3-1 in the semis, leaving the Lionesses squad dreaming of making it back-to-back major tournament successes.
Having already won Euro 2022 last summer, Sarina Wiegman’s squad will now face Spain on Sunday for a shot a second straight triumph on the biggest stage of all.
Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo were all on the scoresheet, with Sam Kerr briefly equalising for the Matilda’s with a stunning long-range effort in the second half. But the day belonged to England as the co-hosts were knocked out, with wing-back Lucy Bronze noting afterwards the atmosphere was a sensational throughout the encounter.
“[Wiegman told us] just that we played how we wanted to: determined, resilient. I couldn’t hear much else! She talked about silencing the crowd, I feel like we did that tonight [especially] after the third goal.
“We all dreamed of being in the final and to have family and friends staying here the whole way through because they believed in us is unbelievable. At the same time, against Australia, in Australia and what a fantastic tournament they had, I’m just amazed to get to the final.”
Bronze, who plays in Spain with Barcelona, knows from the quality of her club teammates that England will be in for a hugely difficult encounter in the final, noting several of the squad as “unbelievable” talents.
Goalscorer Russo, meanwhile, was impressed with her team’s capacity to turn the match after the equaliser, when Australia were at the time in the ascendency.
“I’m over the moon! I’m laughing at the friends and family dancing in the crowd,” she said. “We’ve been dreaming of it but this is what it’s all about - we’re buzzing.
“When they scored they had momentum but Hempo’s goal flipped it. [The third] helped us see the game out.
“The fans are brilliant every single time - to celebrate with them is really special. Spain’s going to be even tougher, every game has been of the highest level but we’re excited. We’ll recover and go [there] to win.”
For Wiegman, Sunday’s World Cup final will mean four straight appearances in the last game at major tournaments, having won the 2017 Euros with Netherlands, reached the 2019 World Cup final with the same team and most recently taking the Lionesses to the Euros triumph of last summer.
The head coach praised her team’s ability to find different routes to victory, with a strong mentality on show at both ends of the pitch.
“We achieved a final! It’s unbelievable. We won the game at this incredible stadium, it was a hard game of course but again we found a way to win,” she said. “You’ve been talking about ruthlessness all the time; this team have it whether it’s in offence or defence. We really want to win, we stick to the plan and it worked again.
“Australia have done an incredible job, they grew into the tournament because they had setbacks too, then they started playing better and better and Sam Kerr came back - you saw today why she’s the star of the team.
“The chance as a coach or a player to make two finals is really special. I never take anything for granted, it’s like being in a fairytale or something now.”
