SYDNEY — Lauren Hemp didn’t let the Women’s World Cup semifinal match between Australia and England turn out to be the Sam Kerr present.

Hemp scored to revive England’s lead eight minutes after an outstanding equalizer from Kerr, after which offered an ideal cross for the clincher because the Lionesses moved into their first World Cup championship recreation with a 3-1 victory over Australia on Wednesday.

The semifinal end result ended a Matildas run that captivated Australia for nearly a month and despatched England to a matchup with Spain within the remaining, the place the Lionesses can have an opportunity to deliver a World Cup dwelling for the primary time since 1966.

Sarina Wiegman grew to become the primary coach to guide two nations to the Women’s World Cup remaining, and in back-to-back tournaments. Her run with the Netherlands in 2019 ended with a loss to the United States.

On both facet of that, she guided Netherlands to the European title in 2017 after which took over the England squad for its breakthrough Euro 2022 title.

“I’m the lucky one - the last two tournaments I’m going to the final,” mentioned Wiegman, the one feminine head coach of any group to achieve the quarterfinals.

“You make it to finals, it’s really special,” she mentioned. “I’m like, ‘Am I here in the middle of a fairytale or something?’”

England dominated possession within the first half, ravenous the Australians of the ball and shutting down the Matildas’ transitional, counter-attacking recreation.

It was rewarded when Ella Toone scored within the thirty sixth minute with a strong right-foot shot diagonally contained in the far publish. A throw-in from Rachel Daly went to Hemp, who turned and despatched it into the realm the place Alessia Russo turned the ball again previous Hemp for Toone to swoop.

Kerr was in Australia’s beginning lineup for the primary time within the event after overcoming a left calf harm.

Her equalizer within the 63rd gave the 75,784-strong crowd and tens of millions of followers watching round Australia renewed hope, however Hemp responded with a purpose within the 71st and offered an ideal by means of ball for Russo to complete from a decent angle 4 minutes from the tip of regulation.

“Even after Sam’s goal there was no fear in the squad. We weren’t nervous. We just played our football,” Hemp mentioned. “We showed the relentlessness inside the squad to make it 2-1. And then even when we’re on the backfoot going into the final few minutes, I felt like we showed calm, composure on the ball to manage to counterattack them and obviously make it 3-1.”

England and Spain will every be taking part in within the Women’s World Cup remaining for the primary time at Stadium Australia on Sunday. It would be the first all-European remaining since 2003.

Australia will play Sweden, which misplaced to Spain 2-1 within the different semifinal, for third place on Saturday in Brisbane.

“We had a chance for 2-2 and a couple of minutes later it was 3-1,” Australia coach Tony Gustavsson mentioned. “It was one of those games, unfortunately.”

Katrina Gorry created possibilities in every half of her a hundredth recreation for Australia however mentioned the Matildas weren’t capable of dominate the way in which they wanted to.

“But you know, we’ve got a quick turnaround and we want to win the bronze medal,” she mentioned.

After topping its group, advancing over Nigeria on penalties within the spherical of 16 and beating Colombia within the quarterfinals, England was taking part in within the semifinals for the third consecutive Women’s World Cup. Australia was within the remaining 4 for the primary time.

It confirmed, significantly within the first half and within the final 20 minutes, when England had a tougher edge and was extra medical when it counted.

The Australians appear to have performed their remaining within the 7-6 penalty shootout win over France final weekend, their first win in 4 quarterfinal appearances on the Women’s World Cup.

Kerr missed the group stage, performed the final 10 minutes within the round-of-16 win over Denmark and went on as a second-half substitute in that slender win over fifth-ranked France earlier than lastly getting a begin in opposition to England.

She ended up on the bottom after her first contact after a tangle with Keira Walsh. In the ninth minute, England defender Alex Greenwood obtained a yellow card for a sliding sort out from behind that left Kerr on the bottom once more.

After being subdued by England’s protection for an hour, Kerr took the ball round midway, sprinted ahead in a solo run and launching a long-range right-foot shot that frivolously touched defender Millie Bright earlier than going into the highest left nook.

Kerr began making inroads as momentum shifted briefly earlier than England responded, with Hemp operating onto an extended ball into the realm and scoring with a left-foot end after Australia defender Ellie Carpenter over-ran the ball.

Kerr missed an opportunity to equalize once more with a header within the 82nd and miscued one other shot as Australia squandered three alternatives earlier than Hemp arrange Russo to complete off the scoring.

After placing Australia out of competition, Hemp mentioned the England squad wished to relive the form of euphoria that their win within the European Championship generated final 12 months.

“Obviously you’ve seen last year how successful we were. We want to do the same again, we want to go one step further,” Hemp mentioned. “We’ve all got a dream and I feel like we’re really pushing each other to be the best that we can.”

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