England reach the game’s grandest stage, having fittingly reached their greatest level so far.
Such was the professionally commanding nature of this 3-1 semi-final win over hosts Australia that they somehow made this moment of glorious football history feel like it was always coming. They have just got better and better as this World Cup has gone on, as symbolised by all of Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo coming to form with goals, and as crowned now with a place in the final itself.
It was celebrated, of course, with a delirious rendition of Sweet Caroline in the centre circle.
They looked a level above a gutsy Australia who ran out of momentum and fortune. And yet it couldn’t quite be said it was a formality, not with Sam Kerr on the pitch. Even within that and the greater story of this England side, there was still drama and subplots.
Kerr had finally arrived at this World Cup with a second-half goal of true brilliance, and the only time that England suffered any kind of doubt, only to fail to keep Australia in it with a jaw-dropping late miss at 2-1.
That’s what it came down to, but only in terms of the details of the game rather than the pattern of the play. It still felt like England could go again, which is why they are ultimately going further and possibly all the way.
A brilliant Spain await at this same Stadium Australia, but this is now an England with all of their players coming to form at the right. Sarina Wiegman, who has got virtually every call at this World Cup correct in hugely trying circumstances, now has her biggest decision to make. Does she bring back Lauren James after a two-match ban?
That, in its own way, is an uplifting discussion to be able to have. This performance suggests she might have to keep the same team. It just worked, right from the start.
England played their way through Australia in convincing fashion, right from the off.
The opening goal was certainly coming, even if few would have said it was coming from Toone. The Manchester United attacker has not been at her best in this World Cup, which made the emphatic nature of the goal all the more impressive. That was not the strike of a player struggling for form or confidence.
It is one of a player who excels in latter stages, as illustrated by the fact she has become the first England player in men’s or women’s football to score in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of a major tournament. This was the pick of them.
After fine work from Alessia Russo on the byline, the ball was cut back only for Lauren Hemp to just miss it. So, Toone went through it. Perfectly set up for a first-time strike, the midfielder drove a swerving ball right into the top corner with a release that was as divine as it was devastating.
Mackenzie Arnold could only stand there. Moving would have been pointless, in any case.
Australia had not really got going. It didn’t help that Kerr couldn’t really get moving. This was partly down to a hugely cynical approach from England, as they rotated challenges and fouls. A stricter referee might have given Alex Greenwood more than a booking for one industrial early intervention that let everyone know what this was going to be about.
She clearly kept that in mind. Kerr began to hurt England in very different ways, and in a manner that meant no one could get close enough to even try and foul her.
It was like the playmaker was saving herself for when she was most needed. Australia had come out with more impetus in the second half but it still looked like they were going to need something different to open England.
Kerr’s moment went beyond that. Surging through the half, and with Millie Bright backing off as she waited to try and challenge, the forward just let fly. The ball did take a touch off the defender’s flailing leg, but such was the quality of the effort that it only helped it soar over Mary Earps.
It was the centrepiece of Australia’s best period, when Kerr looked like she was going to make this World Cup her own in the way that might have happened without injury. She had England’s defence tetchy and tense, especially with one jinking run through that could have brought a penalty.
England had to get back into it, and did so by getting right back to basics. Bright, who should have scored a header shortly before Kerr’s goal, spotted a run from Hemp on launched it forward.
Ellie Carpenter struggled with the bounce and was punished for it. Hemp got in front to put the ball into the corner. That was the goal that set England on the way the final.
This was now Australia’s whole World Cup. They had to throw everything at it. It came down to inches.
First, Jess Carter displayed supremely quick thinking to get enough on an Earps parry and prevent Courtnee Vine’s shot forcing the equaliser. It was so slight, but meant the world.
There was still more. In Australia’s last grand attack, a corner dropped just yards out, to the player they would want there above any other.
Kerr instead put it over the bar. It was a bad miss, especially for someone of her quality. Would it have happened if she was on full fitness? It almost feels unfair to ruminate on. It’s also immaterial, something made certain by Russo’s brilliant finish.
With Australia just having to go with it, there was inevitably space in behind, which Hemp again exploited. Russo then excelled.
That is a word that can be used to describe this England as a whole, as they are now one game away from becoming world champions as well as European champions.
Australia, of course, were still cheered off by their proud home crowd after the final whistle.
It is England that were singing, though, and look like they can go further again. They've already made history. They now just have to make themselves world champions.
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