England’s semi-final against Australia is the third successive Women’s World Cup semi-final they have reached after also getting to the last four in both 2015 and 2019.
Overall, the Lionesses have now got to to five consecutive semi-finals at major international tournaments thanks to their recent record at the European Championship too.
England, having once been relatively weak on the international stage compared to the likes of Germany and the United States, are now consistently among the best performers in the world.
Semi-finals are no longer a hope and dream, it is now the bare minimum expectation for an England with proven capability of winning a major international trophy.
Prior to 2015, England had never won a World Cup knockout game, but the tournament in Canada was a watershed moment for the Lionesses on the global stage.
2015
At the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada, England came second in their group which contained France, Colombia and Mexico. They beat both Norway and the hosts 2-1 in the last 16 and the quarter-finals respectively, with Lucy Bronze scoring in both games.
In the semi-finals, they came up against defending champions Japan, and at 1-1 looked likely to be going to extra-time after Aya Miyama and Fara Williams had each converted first half penalites. But Laura Bassett’s cruel stoppage time own goal knocked England out.
England did go on to at least take home a bronze medal after narrowly defeating Germany in the third/fourth place playoff. Williams scored an extra-time penalty in the 108th minute.
2019
In France in 2019, England topped their group, winning all three matches against Japan, Argentina and Scotland. Cameroon were brushed aside in the last 16, before another World Cup knockout win over Norway – another game in which the aforementioned Bronze scored.
Similar to 2015, they faced the holders in the semis, this time the United States. It was intense battle that wasn’t over until the final whistle. Ellen White equalised for England after Christen Press had put the Americans ahead. Alex Morgan then scored what proved to be the winner after 31 minutes, pulling out her infamous “That’s the tea!” celebration, but Steph Houghton missed a late penalty that could have forced extra-time. Millie Bright was also sent off near the end.
England fell to Sweden in the third/fourth place playoff, losing 2-1.
Overall World Cup semi-final record
|
World Cup |
Semi-final |
England scorers |
|---|---|---|
|
2015 |
Japan 2-1 England |
Fara Williams (p) |
|
2019 |
England 1-2 United States |
Ellen White |
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England have made as many six semi-final appearances at the Euros, although in some of the earlier editions of the tournament, simply qualifying was enough to be in the last four.
1984 European Competition for Women’s Football
The inaugural European Championship was a four-team tournament, with England automatically starting in the semi-finals, which were a two-legged home and away affair.
The Lionesses started by beating Denmark 2-1 in Crewe and followed that up with a 1-0 win in Hjorring to progress 3-1 on aggregate. But Sweden won a penalty shootout in Luton following the second leg of the final, which had finished 1-1 on aggregate.
1987 European Competition for Women’s Football
It was similarly a four-team tournament in 1987, but the format had been altered so that it was all held in a singe host nation over the course of just four days instead of more than a month as in 1984.
England didn’t go further than one match, losing their semi-final to Sweden, 3-2 in extra-time.
Euro 1995
England didn’t qualify for the Euros again until 1995, at which point it was still just four teams. It had, however, reverted to the earlier format of two-legged home and away semi-finals and was played over a period of three and a half months in total – actually starting in December 1994.
The Lionesses lost 6-2 on aggregate to eventual champions Germany – 4-1 at home, 2-1 away – but scored first and early through Karen Farley in both games.
Euro 2009
England’s next semi-final appearance came 14 years later in 2009. By then, 12 teams were competing and the Lionesses reached the knockouts as a one of the two best third-placed teams in the group stage, facing hosts Finland in the quarter-finals. A 3-2 victory saw them reach the last four.
In the semi-finals, the Lionesses beat the Netherlands in extra-time, with Jill Scott scoring the winner in the 116th minute after Kelly Smith’s earlier goal was cancelled out by Marlous Pieete.
But England ended up being mauled 6-2 by Germany in a one-sided final.
Euro 2017
Having failed to win a game at Euro 2013 and signalling the end of Hope Powell’s long reign manager, the new Lionesses got to the last four at Euro 2017, two years after their World Cup watershed.
In the quarter-finals, they defeated France 1-0 through a Jodie Taylor goal, before losing to hosts, and eventual winners Netherlands, who were managed at the time by future England boss Sarina Wiegman. Wiegman’s scored saw goals through Vivianne Miedema and Danielle van de Donk, before Millie Bright scored an own goal in the 93rd minute to make it 3-0.
Euro 2022
In the delayed 2022 tournament, which was originally supposed to take place in 2021, England didn’t just get to the semi-finals, they lifted the trophy as well.
The group stage was straightforward, scoring 14 goals without reply against Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland, before Ella Toone and Georgia Stanway completed a 2-1 quarter-final comeback against Spain. Then, it was Sweden in the semis.
It was dreamland for the Lionesses against one of the other strongest teams in the tournament. Beth Mead and Lucy Bronze scored either side of half-time, with Alessia Russo’s iconic backheel extending the lead to 3-0 and ultimately landed a FIFA Puskas Award nomination. Fran Kirby rounded off the surrpising rout with England’s fourth with just under 15 minutes left.
In the final, England beat Germany 2-1 in extra-time at a sold-out Wembley. Toone’s opener was cancelled out, but Chloe Kelly displayed a poacher’s instinct to win it in the 110th minute.
Overall European Championship semi-final record
|
European Championship |
Semi-final |
England scorers |
|---|---|---|
|
1984 |
England 3-1 Denmark (Agg) |
Linda Curl, Liz Deighan, Deborah Bampton |
|
1987 |
Sweden 3-2 England (aet) |
Jackie Sherrard, Kerry Davis |
|
1995 |
England 2-6 Germany (Agg) |
Karen Farley (2) |
|
2009 |
England 2-1 Netherlands |
Kelly Smith, Jill Scott |
|
2017 |
Netherlands 3-0 England |
n/a |
|
2022 |
England 4-0 Sweden |
Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, Alessia Russo, Fran Kirby |
WATCH THE WOMEN’S WORLD CUP SEMI-FINAL EDITION OF 90MIN TALKS
Rachel & Sophie from Girls On The Ball are joined by Sophie Lawson to discuss the results from the World Cup quarter-finals, as well as preview the semi-finals as England prepare to face Australia. If you can’t see this embed, click here to watch the video!
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