The Women’s World Cup has a European final

More than 75,000 fans behind them and a picture-perfect goal from star striker Sam Kerr were not enough: Australia stumbled in the semi-finals on their way to winning the Women’s World Cup in Sydney. After the 3-1 (1-0) victory over the hosts, European champions England will meet Spain in the final on Sunday, who qualified for the final on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Sweden.

“I’m proud but also sad,” said Australia coach Tony Gustavsson after the semifinals. The Swede proved a fair loser as he congratulated the English on their victory. “They really pulled it off as planned and were more callous in front of goal.” There was praise for captain Sam Kerr, who was in the starting eleven for the first time after her calf injury and scored in the 63rd minute with a well-placed shot from 20 meters to equalize in the meantime. Gustavsson: “She hadn’t really trained and then played through – unbelievable!” Australia’s eyes are now on the third-place play-off, where they meet Sweden on Saturday.

In the English camp, everyone was naturally overjoyed after reaching the final. In April they lost a friendly against Australia 2-0. Ella Toone (36th), Lauren Hemp (71st) and Alessia Russo (86th) shot the European champion into the final yesterday. England team boss Sarina Wiegman seems to have brought success to the island. The Dutchwoman is in a grand final for the fourth time. In 2017 she won the European Championships at home with the Netherlands, and in 2019 she lost to the USA with the Orange Women in the World Cup final. In 2022 – a year after her move to the island – England celebrated the triumph in the European Championship final at Wembley against Germany under her direction.