Australia 1-3 England: Lionesses book their place in Women’s World Cup final after Lauren Hemp, Ella Toone and Alessia Russo strike to sink the hosts

This should have been Australia’s tournament, their chance to reach a World Cup final, their chance at history. England decided that the script would not be like that. The Lionesses turned in the performance of a lifetime beating the Aussies 3-1 in their own backyard and set up a showdown with Spain.

When Sam Kerr scored her first goal of the tournament to nullify Ella Toone’s attack in the first half, the momentum seemed to be with the hosts. But this English team is not giving up. Lauren Hemp responded eight minutes later to restore the Lionesses’ lead before Alessia Russo finished the job four minutes from time.

England’s journey to the World Cup final has been a two-year journey since Wiegman took over in 2021. But a key moment came four months ago when the manager suffered her first-ever defeat at the hands of Tony Gustavsson’s Australia in April.

It was perhaps the best thing that could have happened to the Leeuwinnen and Wiegman. Although she missed two key defenders in Millie Bright and Alex Greenwood, Wiegman had no plan B in that game.

It was the worst performance of her reign and she knew she had to come up with a solution should England play against Australia in this tournament. Wiegman has, as she has done time and time again, given birth again.

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The build up to this semifinal focused on whether Kerr would make her first start of the tournament. The striker missed all three group stage games after suffering a calf injury on the eve of the tournament, but returned for the knockouts, coming off the bench in the last 16 and the quarter-final.

Kerr had stated she was fit to start, but Gustavsson had held back before the game. There was risk in both options. Her starting meant she might not last 90 minutes. If they didn’t start her, they risked falling behind and bringing her in too late. Gustavsson clearly decided that the latter was too great a risk. With a World Cup final on the line, Kerr had to start.

England decided they were not going to get an easy ride and within 20 minutes the striker had been wiped out three times. Keira Walsh was the first to commit a foul and clattered forward after just two minutes. Alex Greenwood was next and swept Kerr off her feet at the Australia half before Jess Carter caught her in the face with a boot.

The Australian press had built up a story that this match was some kind of war between Kerr and England goalkeeper Mary Earps. The Chelsea striker scored regularly against the Manchester United goalkeeper and has chipped her in successive seasons.

Earps had been lobbed in England’s quarter-final with Colombia and was therefore a possible weak link, they had said. But in the battle of Kerr v Earps, the goalkeeper took a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute.

A long ball over the top sailed over the heads of both Bright and Jess Carter, leaving Kerr one-on-one with Earps. The goalkeeper stood up to block the striker’s attempt and although the offside flag was eventually raised by the assistant referee, it was a psychological boost to England’s boost for Earps.

Minutes later, England should have taken the lead on the other side of Greenwood’s lofty pass over Australia’s defense to Georgia Stanway. The midfielder had time, but sent a volley to the near post that Mackenzie Arnold easily blocked with her foot.

But the moment for England came in the 36th minute – a simple throw-in that ended in a thunderous shot. The ball went down the line to Hemp, whose shot was knocked down by Russo. The forward held the ball up before cutting it back to where Hemp and Toone were waiting.

Hemp dummy, Toone hit, the ball flew – fast and furious into the top corner of the Aussie net. For the first time, the stadium was silent all night. All that could be heard was the roar from the English bench.

The Lionesses were on top and almost doubled their lead at the start of the second half. Hemp forced Arnold into a fine save at the near post before Bright headed the resulting corner wide. It was a chance she probably should have scored.

Then came the moment Australia had been waiting for throughout the tournament. Russo was caught in possession and the ball was played to Kerr. She was allowed to run and run and then strike.

The ball deflected off Bright’s knee and flew over Earps’ head and into the net. It was 1-1 on paper and 1-1 in the battle of Kerr v Earps. The Aussie crowd roared back to life.

But eight minutes later they were silenced again. It was route one from England when Bright kicked a ball forward. Ellie Carpenter misjudged it completely and Hemp jumped up, shrugging off the defender before firing into the bottom right corner.

Earps then made a crucial save to deny Cortnee Vine before Greenwood guided the ball away from Kerr, who was waiting to tap in. Kerr then sent a shot over the crossbar as Australia pushed forward. Those missed opportunities proved costly as England went down at the other end to make it 3-1.

Hemp drove forward at pace, released Russo on the right and the attacker took one touch before firing a shot into the bottom left corner. Game over, history made.

Before each match at this World Cup, teams walked to a dramatic version of Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics. At the end of the evening, the song chosen by the winning team will sound over the speakers. England’s is Sweet Caroline. Beating the Aussies out of their own tournament, it doesn’t get much more fun than that.