England (No. 4 in the FIFA rankings) has reached the quarterfinals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 after defeating Nigeria (No. 40) on penalties despite being outnumbered.
England won 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw through 90 minutes and extra time in the round of 16 at Brisbane Stadium in Australia on Sunday.
The Three Lions, who had earlier finished first in Group D (3 wins, 9 points), advanced to the Round of 16 with a hard-fought victory over Nigeria.
England will face the winner of the Colombia-Jamaica match for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Having finished third at the 2015 tournament and fourth at the 2019 edition, England will be looking for their first win at the tournament.
Nigeria, ranked 40th, finished second in Group B (1 win, 2 draws) and advanced to the round of 16, where they faced England, but fell short after a penalty shootout.
As expected, the game was relatively evenly matched. England dominated possession, but Nigeria fought back with their trademark counterattacks.
With the score tied at 0-0, England were thrown a curveball when Lauren James was sent off in the 32nd minute.
In the end, neither team could find the back of the net until the 90th minute, and neither team scored in extra time.
The tie came down to penalty kicks.
England got off to a shaky start when their number one kicker, Georgia Stanway, missed, but calmly converted their second through fifth kicks. 꽁머니
Nigeria, on the other hand, were unable to overcome the loss of their first and second kickers and were eliminated.
In the other round of 16 match at Accor Stadium in Sydney, Australia, home team Australia (ranked 12th) defeated Denmark (ranked 15th) 2-0.
Australia, who entered the round of 16 as the top-ranked team in Group B (2-1-1), earned a comfortable win over Denmark, who finished second in Group D (2-1-1).
Caitlin Fuld opened the scoring in the 29th minute and Haley Lasso added a goal in the 25th minute to seal the win.
The Socceroos will meet the winner of the France-Morocco match on Nov. 12 in the quarterfinals.