Football World Cup: England come from behind against Colombia to book semi-final against Australia

Alessia Russo's second-half goal has lifted England to a thrilling 2-1 quarter-final victory over Colombia and into the Women's World Cup semi-finals for the third consecutive time.

Lauren Hemp also scored for the European champions, who now face hosts Australia on Wednesday at Sydney for a place in their first World Cup final.

"It's exciting, what more do you want in front of a home crowd?" Player of the Match Russo told ITV. "We got a bit of that tonight against Colombia.

"You want to play against the best teams. England fans can always dare to dream, but we'll carry on working hard."

Colombia, who were the lowest-ranked team remaining and had never made it past the round of 16, opened the scoring with a goal from Leicy Santos to the delight of the large swathes of yellow-and-blue clad Colombian fans among the crowd of 75,784 at Stadium Australia.

The fourth-ranked Lionesses, missing top scorer Lauren James to a two-game suspension, were one of just four top-10 ranked teams left standing - along with Sweden (3), Spain (6) and Australia (10) - in a tournament that has been full of delightful twists and turns.

Russo netted the winner in the 63rd minute, pouncing on a through-ball from Georgia Stanway that bounced off a Colombia defender and into the path of the Arsenal forward, who fired low and hard into the bottom corner.

Santos scored against the run of play in the 44th minute, launching a curling ball that deflected off the leg of Rachel Daly and into the top corner of the 18-yard box, grazing Mary Earps' fingertips and going into the far corner of the net.

Trailing for the first time in the tournament, the Lionesses, who are undefeated in 37 of their last 38 games, kept their composure, and when Colombian keeper Catalina Perez fumbled and lost the ball on Russo's shot, Hemp was there to poke it in from six yards out just before the halftime whistle.

Lorena Bedoya Durango had an excellent chance at an equaliser with a long-range effort late in regulation time that Earps deflected over the crossbar.

Linda Caicedo, 18, who was one of the most exciting players at the World Cup, had a last chance deep in extra time, but shook her head, after firing the ball over the bar. 

Reuters

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