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Lionesses through to World Cup quarter-final after beating Nigeria on penalties

August 7, 2023
Lionesses through to World Cup quarter-final after beating Nigeria on penalties

The Lionesses have secured a place in the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup after a dramatic penalty shootout win over Nigeria.

England were reduced to 10 players with three minutes of normal time remaining after Lauren James stamped on the back of Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie in what Gary Linekar called “Beckhamesque moment of madness”.

But the Lionesses held on in extra-time to force penalties, with Chloe Kelly, Beth England, Rachel Daly and Alex Greenwood finding the target to secure a 4-2 shootout win.

England will now face either Jamaica or Colombia in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Speaking after the match, Kelly, who scored the winning penalty, said: “We dig deep and we believe in our abilities and first and foremost we believe in what we’re being told to do.”

Former England international Lee Henrie said the match was “not a classic performance” from England, adding that Nigeria were “excellent all over the pitch”.

He told Sky Sports News: “Brilliant penalties in the end from England and they are through to the quarter-finals. They have had to dig deep, it has not been a classic performance, you have to feel for Nigeria, who were excellent all over the pitch, they had a game plan and worked all over the pitch.

“Then it was all about England going down to 10 players and you feel can they just get through this period and have the belief to get through that, and they did.”

England's Alessia Russo in action with Nigeria's Oluwatosin Demehin

Earlier in the match England could have had a penalty after Rachel Daly went down under contact from a Nigeria defender in the first half. But after looking at VAR the referee overturned her decision.

England struggled to match Nigeria’s physical gameplan at times and their task was made harder when James’s moment of petulance was punished by the referee.

James will now miss the quarter-finals and could face a longer suspension.

But England held their nerve in the shootout and their dream of completing a European Championship and World Cup double remains alive.

‘If I were a little girl now I’d be absolutely loving it’, fans gather to back Lionesses

Bright and early on a Monday morning a venue within the Chelsea stadium opened its doors to season ticket holders eager to cheer on the Lionesses in their decisive game against Nigeria.

This being 8am, the atmosphere was a far cry from the usual rowdiness that accompanies football games, but once the 100 or so fans downed some breakfast on offer they were ready to back the England women all the way.

Among them was Cally Soutar, a football player herself, for whom the attention that the women’s game is now getting has been a long time coming.

“When I was a little kid I never experienced anything like this. If I were a little girl now I’d be absolutely loving it. So amazing to see it on such a big stage,” she told Sky News.

“The first women’s game I remember going to was in 2015,” she said, “and since then I haven’t been able to stop watching. It’s great to see that so many other people are getting involved as well, it’s fantastic,” Cally added.

And the feeling that the women’s game is finally getting the recognition it’s due was shared by groups of young girls, gripped by the action on screen.

As they watched their idols play in front of a stadium packed with tens of thousands of people, one of them told me – if you can see it, you can be it.