Women’s World Cup LIVE: England vs Australia build-up as Spain reach final

As Sam Kerr declared herself “ready to go”, it was a warning for England that her World Cup has yet to start. With the Matildas enjoying their moment as Australia is gripped by World Cup fever ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final against the Lionesses, it will not have gone unnoticed in the England camp that Kerr has yet to have hers.

Without a goal and without a start in the World Cup, the Australia captain has been building towards the stage where she can make her most important contribution. Indeed, if there was ever a team who knows that you don’t keep the striker quiet for long, it would be Australia’s next opponents.

When it comes to the big occasions, Kerr often proves to be inevitable. Kerr’s goals have strengthened Chelsea’s domestic dominance since signing for the club in 2019 but it is the timing of them that has led to her fearsome reputation.

Before last season’s FA Cup final, she confidently pointed out that she had never played at Wembley and not won a trophy. When she scored the winner against Manchester United, she extended her remarkable record in domestic cup finals to 10 goals in seven appearances, including the last six in a row.

Defender Lucy Bronze revealed England would have failed to live up to their own expectations had they not reached the World Cup semi-finals.

Alessia Russo guaranteed the Lionesses would finish no lower than fourth in the 2023 tournament when her second-half goal completed a 2-1 comeback against Colombia in Saturday’s quarter-final to set up Wednesday’s meeting with co-hosts Australia.

Third place would see England equal their best-ever finish from eight years ago in Canada, but Bronze insisted reaching this stage for the third time in the European champions’ history was the bare minimum.

What were England’s group results?

What is England’s potential path to the final?

England vs Australia – 11:00, Sydney – Live on BBC One from 10am

England will be out to spoil the party against Australia as the Lionesses look to make history of their own.

The European champions defeated Colombia 2-1 in the quarter-finals and are set to face another hostile atmosphere as they take on Australia and a near-80,000 capacity crowd in Sydney’s Olympic Stadium. The winner will play Spain in Sunday’s showpiece in Sydney, after La Roja defeated Sweden 2-1 in the other semi-final.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Lionesses’ run down under:

Both teams are aiming to reach their first-ever Women’s World Cup final and the stage could not be bigger for the latest chapter of England and Australia’s sporting rivalry.

Sweden’s exit means there will be a Women’s World Cup final featuring two teams who have never reached that stage of the tournament before.

It is the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1991 that this has happened.

Spain will be one of the team but who will join them, Australia or England?

This match was the first in Women’s World Cup history to see the first goal scored inside the final 10 minutes and still end with at least three goals scored.

Spain have reached the final of the Women’s World Cup for the first time but prior to this tournament, they had won just one of their seven games at the World Cup.

(Two draws, four defeats)

Spain’s Salma Paralluelo, aged 19, became the second teenager to score in a Women’s World Cup semi-final, after Kara Lang did so at the age of 16 for Canada in 2003, also against Sweden.

More from Fara Williams who was full of praise for Spain’s ‘togetherness’ saying: “These scenes are phenomenal.

“To think that Spain left so many players at home, so many of their first team players at home. It’s crazy.

“It’s surprising because with all of what’s gone on Spain have shown a togetherness here that they have never ever shown in tournament football before.”