FIFA Women's Cup: England beat Australia 3-1 to set up Final Match with Spain
England's women's soccer team reached their first World Cup final after beating Australia 3-1. Despite a great goal from Australia's Sam Kerr, England managed to win. Ella Toone scored first for England, Lauren Hemp got another goal, and Alessia Russo sealed the victory.
England lost in the semifinals in the last two World Cups, but now they'll play against Spain on Sunday to try and win the world title after winning the European Championship last year. It will be the first all-European final since 2003.
Australia will play Sweden, which lost 2-1 to Spain in the other semifinal, for third place on Saturday in Brisbane.
Russo, who scored the third goal, shared her thoughts with Reuters post-match.
“I am over the moon. We are in a World Cup final. We were dreaming of the semis before the tournament, but this is what it’s all about,” she said. “When they scored, they got the momentum and the place erupted. Hemp’s goal flipped the momentum back.”
On England’s chances of winning on Sunday she said: “Yeah why not? I think Spain will be even tougher. Every game we have gone into in this tournament has been of the highest level.”
Australia came close to reaching the final while simultaneously hosting the World Cup. This would have marked the first instance since 1999 of a host nation competing for the women's title. In that year, the United States achieved the same feat and emerged victorious against China in the final.
Sarina Wiegman, who has managed the England women's national team since September 2021, is the first coach to guide two different nations to consecutive Women's World Cup finals. Her first stint with the Netherlands in 2019 concluded with a defeat to the United States in the title match.
“I’m the lucky one — the last two tournaments I’m going to the final,” Wiegman said to AP, the only female head coach of any team to reach the quarterfinals. The equation is now one out of two.
“You make it to finals, it’s really special,” she said. “I’m like, ‘Am I here in the middle of a fairytale or something?’”