England survive World Cup scare to beat Nigeria on pens after Lauren James red
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England beat Nigeria on penalties to secure their spot in the Women's World Cup quarter-finals.
Nigeria looked to make history by becoming the first African side to win a knockout match in the tournament and three times hit the woodwork as Lauren James was dismissed for a stamp.
The Lionesses held on through extra-time to reach the last eight where they will face either Colombia or Jamaica on Saturday August 12 in Sydney.
England went into the game as favourites and had been boosted by early exits of the USA, Germany and Brazil – but Nigeria built on their group stage success across the 120 minutes.
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England's Euro 2022 hero Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty after Alex Greenwood, Rachel Daly and Beth England made up for Georgia Stanway's miss.
They enjoyed long periods of pressure and had 20 shots on England's goal without finding the back of the net – and were also unlucky not to get a penalty in extra-time for a clumsy Lucy Bronze tackle.
Randy Waldrum's side were crestfallen after coming up short in the shootout, which had a mixture of confident and nervous efforts from both sides.
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Sarina Wiegman's side had to dig in after going down to 10 following the VAR check on James' stamp, who will play no further part in the tournament.
Kelly said on BBC Sport after the win: "It’s amazing. Anything that’s thrown at us, we’ve shown what we’re capable of.
"We dig deep as a group and believe in our ability and believe in what we’re being told to do We’ve been practising penalties a lot and it’s working.
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"Once I win that mental battle I’m good. I walk up and want to score. This team’s special. We did it at the Euros, the Finalissima. There’s more to come from this special team."
England joined Spain, the Netherlands, Japan and Sweden in reaching the last eight, with hosts Australia looking to get past Denmark.
Pundit Alex Scott said of the victory: "When you win tournaments you need luck, magic. England have found a way."
- England women’s football team
- Women’s World Cup
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