Women’s World Cup: England, Australia advance to the quarterfinals

England and Australia became the latest teams to reach the quarterfinals at the women’s World Cup after their wins over Nigeria and Denmark, respectively. Only two spots remain in the next round.

England inched past Nigeria in Brisbane, Australia, to advance to the quarterfinals in a game that had to be decided by penalties after the match went scoreless for 120 minutes. The shootout was 4-2 in England’s favor, with Beth England, Rachel Daly, and Alex Greenwood all finding the back of the net and Chloe Kelly icing the win with a spot kick.

England was also contending with the loss of its top scorer Lauren James, who was ejected with a red card for stomping on the back of Nigeria’s Michelle Alonzi in the 87th minute. James has three goals and three assists through four matches and will be out at least one additional game with a suspension.

Australia also moved to the next round with a decisive 2-0 victory over Denmark in Sydney, Australia. Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso each had goals for the cohosts to set up a meeting with the winner of the matchup between France and Morocco.

Australian captain Sam Kerr made her first appearance of this World Cup after being subbed on in the 78th minute of the match to the appreciation of the home crowd. Kerr missed Australia’s first three games of the tournament with a calf injury.

England 0, Nigeria 0

England advances, 4-2, on penalty kicks

Australia 2, Denmark 0

Goalkeeper Mary Earps was key in England’s victory over Nigeria. While Nigeria outshot England by 22-12 in their round of 16 match, Earps held firm in goal to keep the score knotted at 0 and send the game into penalties, where England was able to take the edge.

In a show of sportsmanship, immediately after England’s Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty, she went over to Nigerian goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, who was in tears on the goal line. Kelly even held a hand up to block the cameraman from zooming in too close on 22-year-old Nnadozie’s face.

“It was obviously a relief on a personal level, but it felt amazing. The girls have been absolutely smashing it the last few games, and to join them on the pitch finally after they’ve, you know, been doing all the work, it was an amazing feeling for me,” said Kerr after making her 2023 World Cup debut.

Hear more from the Aussies’ striker here:

The final two spots in the quarterfinals are on the line early tomorrow morning: