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2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
Semi-finals
Australia v England
Stadium Australia
Sydney, Australia
Wednesday, 16 August 2023
Kick-off is at 10h00
England will be looking to make history when they lock horns with Australia in the semi-finals of the
2023 Women's World Cup at Stadium Australia in Sydney on Wednesday, August 16.
The Lionesses have started to emerge as a force in world football over the last decade, finishing third at the 2015 edition of the quadrennial tournament and fourth in 2019.
They were crowned European champions for the first time in 2022, having reached the semi-finals five years earlier and finishing runners-up in 2009.
Sarina Wiegman's side have yet to fully hit their stride in Australia and New Zealand, although they did manage to thrash China 6-1 during the group stages.
England showed their fighting spirit in the knockout phase as they beat Nigeria on penalties in the round of 16, having played all of extra time with one player less before coming from behind to beat Colombia 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
Alessia Russo stepped up in the absence of Lauren James to score the winner against Las Chicas Superpoderosas, registering her second goal of the tournament. It was the 13th of her fledgling international career and with James also suspended for the Australia game, Wiegman will be looking to the Arsenal forward to provide more magic.
Wiegman admits she was unaware of the scale of the sporing rivalry between the two nations despite experiencing a taste of that when the Matildas beat her team 2-0 in a friendly on April 11 in Brentford.
"It's going be really big. But now I've had a couple of questions about that so it's probably going to be bigger than I imagined now," she said. "I'll talk to my players and staff and see what that rivalry is.
"We've had such a warm welcome and we've really enjoyed our time here in Australia. I really like the people here but that doesn't mean there's no rivalry. So we'll see that Wednesday."
Head-to-Head:
Matches - 4
Australia - 1
England - 2
Draws - 1
2023 Women's World Cup semi-final fixtures:
Tuesday, August 15
08h00: Spain v Netherlands
Wednesday, August 16
10h00: Australia v England
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