England scored twice in three first-half minutes then held on to beat hosts Canada 2-1 on Saturday and book a spot in the Women's World Cup semi-finals against Japan. The hosts had been hoping to secure the semi-final spot against the defending champions on Canada Day, July 1, in Edmonton but instead it was England who moved into the last four of a World Cup for the first time.
England coach Mark Sampson paid tribute to the opposition and fans. "I have never been in a stadium as loud, as passionate for their team as that was, they couldn't have pushed us any further we had to really, really dig deep today to get the result we wanted," he told reporters.
Without a men's or women's World Cup title since 1966, and exasperated by another failure at the men's U21 European Championships, the "Lionesses" have become the toast of England.
"We're history makers again, only the third England team to get to a semi-final, we have now joined that 1966 and 1990 club, very, very proud of the whole group," beamed Sampson.
England opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Canadian defender Lauren Sesselmann slipped on the ball, leaving Jodie Taylor a clear path to the goal. She made no mistake, whipping a low shot past a diving Erin McLeod.