A below-par England survived 120 minutes of Nigeria dominance to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, winning 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw, despite Lauren James’ petulant red card.
It was another game where the lesser-deserving team made it into the last eight on penalties, almost a carbon copy of the USA’s exit to Sweden.
After the delight of seeing Keira Walsh return to the XI following her knee injury, Sarina Wiegman stuck with a 3-5-2 that did so well against China. However, England reverted back to the laboured performances of the opening two group games, as Nigeria registered 20 shots to England’s 12.
The game got worse for them too as James (87) was sent off late in normal time after a frustrated and avoidable stamp on the back of Michelle Alozie.
It was reminiscent of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney at the 1998 and 2006 World Cups respectively – the young star lashing out and being penalised. She will now miss the quarter-final, and perhaps more if FIFA decide to punish her further.
But somehow, England rode the wave of Nigeria pressure to take the game all the way to penalties. The shootout began with a Georgia Stanway miss, but this was followed by two further misses from the Super Eagles to hand the Lionesses control.
England did not let the advantage slip either, scoring the remainder of their spot kicks – the decisive penalty taken by Euro 2022 winning goalscorer Chloe Kelly – and booking a quarter-final spot, where they will face either Jamaica or Colombia.
More to follow…
What’s next?
England will face either Jamaica or Colombia in the quarter-finals, who play their last 16 game on Tuesday with kick-off at 9am.
The quarter final will be played on Saturday August 12, with kick off at 11.30am.
What is the schedule?
The round of 16 takes place from August 5 to August 8 with eight games being played across Australia and New Zealand.
The quarter-finals, which will be held in Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney, are scheduled for August 11 and 12.
The first semi-final will then be played on August 15 in Auckland, with the other semi-final taking place on August 16 at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, which will then host the final on August 20.
A third-place play-off will be played the day before the final on August 19 in Brisbane.
