Women's World Cup quarterfinal LIVE: Norway 0-3 England; Lionesses prey on Norway, book semifinal berth

Phil Neville's England sent three goals past a sorry Norway, and will now fight either USA or France in the semifinal. Here is how the Lionesses tasted glory at Le Havre.

Updated : Jun 28, 2019 02:29 IST

 

 

- That's all from my side, folks. Thanks for tuning in and see you around for France vs USA, which my colleague Lavanya will take you through. Ciao!

 

- England will face either France or USA in the semifinal.

FULL TIME: NORWAY 0-3 ENGLAND - The Lionesses are through to the semifinal after beating Norway by three goals. Jill Scott, Ellen White and Lucy Bronze were on the scoresheet today for Phil Neville and co.

90' Daly finds Stanway edging towards the box with her squared pass- Stanway takes a shot from a distance but it goes wide. Five minutes have been added on.

 

82' PENALTY TO ENGLAND.PARRIS MISSES IT! Houghton is brought down in the box and the Lionesses have a penalty-kick. Parris steps up from the spot but sees her attempt saved by the goalkeeper. Opportunity missed!

79' Final ten minutes of regulation time pending. Since scoring the third, the Lionesses seem to have become overconfident. Can the Lionesses hold on to their lead?

69' ANOTHER SAVE! Norway is getting closer and it tests England once again! This time it is Herlovsen, who turns Houghton and tries to find the bottom corner, but Bardsley rushes off her line and closes the angle, making a fantastic fingertip save to deny Norway a goal.

68'SAVE! Engen with a good ball through to Utland, she fires the ball across goal trying to find the bottom corner but Bardsley gets down well and makes a good save.

66' OFF THE LINE! Utland gets in-behind after a poor backpass by Bright doesn't have enough pace on it and Bardsley is unable to reach it. She takes it past the keeper and then tries to fire it into the back of the net from a very tight angle but Houghton gets back and makes a superb block. That's Norway's first shot on target.

61' Great tackle! Bronze with a superb block to deny Norway a goal after a mistake by Houghton almost sees Hansen fire the ball towards the England goal from midway in the box.

 

57' GOAL! NORWAY 0-3 ENGLAND. Lucky Bronze makes it three!  The right-back isn't picked up on the edge of the penalty area as Mead drills the ball out to her and Bronze scores a phenomenal goal, firing the ball into the back of the net from 20 yards out. It's almost straight at Hjelmseth, but there is too much power on it. And, I have goosebumps from that screamer!

47' CHANCE! Good start by Norway, it works the ball well and gets it inside the box. Hansen is unmarked in front of goal just a few yards out, but Houghton gets back and makes a superb tackle to divert the ball out of play. Just as the striker was about to fire the ball towards the goal.

46' Second half kicks off.

The teams are gearing up for the second half. Meanwhile, Coldplay's Sky full of stars plays at Stade Oceane.

 

HALF TIME: NORWAY 0-2 ENGLAND - The Lionesses are roaring at Le Havre as they lead by two goals at the break. Jill Scott found the net in the third minute, and Ellen White extended the lead with a goal minutes before the half-time whistle.

45' CLOSE! Stokes with a terrific ball down left wing, with Scott making a late run at the far post, but she just can't get enough on the ball to turn it goalwards and the ball bounces wide of the post.

41' GOAL! NORWAY 0-2 ENGLAND. Ellen White doubles the lead! Parris picks out an onrushing White inside the box with her ball from the right wing and White absolutely smashes it into the net, and finishes it off with her trademark celebration. The Lionesses are roaring at Le Havre!

38' CHANCE! Parris gets in at the far post after a deep cross into the box by Kirby, the winger sneaks in ahead of Minde. However, Parris heads the ball into the ground which takes much of the power away from the header and Hjelmseth makes a good save from close range.

29' OFF THE POST! So close to a second for England! White finds space in the box as she's fed the ball by Parris, she then powers a shot towards the far corner but it strikes the post and bounces out wide.

 

24' Norway has a chance to redeem itself as Engen has the ball in the center. She finds Graham on the left, but Graham is guilty of taking a shot which is blocked by the body of one of the English defenders.

21' CHANCE! Scott gets the ball from deep midfield and she picks out Parris on the right. Parris travels with the ball and cuts inside; she gets the better of the Norway defender in the box and takes a shot. However, it goes over the bar and Scott seems displeased as Parris didn't cut it back for the goal scorer.

16' Good opportunity! Minde gets forward down the left wing and finds space behind Bronze, she chips the ball into the box, but Engen takes a bad touch and has to play it back to Saevik. The right winger then tries to take on Bright, but she dribbles it out of play.

10'  Mistake by Mjelde as she tries to deal with a long ball over the top, she plays a pass back to her keeper but it doesn't have much pace on it and White almost nicks it away. However, Hjelmseth was quick to the danger and just gets to the ball in time.

 

3' GOAL! NORWAY 0-1 ENGLAND. J. Scott scores! Bright sprints down the right wing before whipping in a cross into the box. White runs into the box but misses her shot, however Scott was alert and positioned inside the box too, and she don't miss! The shot is slotted past Hjelmseth and England has an early lead!

1' KICKOFF! The action is underway at Le Havre.

Former England men's national team player David Beckham is in attendance to watch the Lionesses!

- The players are now marching to the field as we get ready for the national anthems.

 

England has only been involved in one match that was decided in extra time, edging Germany 1-0 in the playoff for the third place in 2015. On penalties, the Lionesses succumbed to France in the 2011 quarterfinal.

Norway’s past record in extra-time matches stands at one victory after the added half-hour (3-2 against Italy in the 1991 quarter-finals), plus one victory and one defeat on penalties, respectively against Australia in the Round of 16 and in the playoff for third place against Brazil in 1999.

- Following nine successive wins, Norway has failed to beat a fellow European side in the World Cup since 2003. The Scandinavians saw off France 2-0 in that edition, before going on to collect three defeats and a draw in subsequent meetings with UEFA opposition.

Norway returns to the quarterfinal after 12 years. Its most recent foray into the last-eight was in 2007, when the Gresshoppene overcame China PR to reach the semifinal. England, whose ongoing five-match winning run is their best ever in the competition, has qualified for the quarterfinal in all five of its participations.

READ | Lionesses ready to roar against Norway for last-four spot

- The teams go toe-to-toe for the third time in the World Cup, where they have each claimed a victory apiece. In 1995 Norway prevailed 2-0 following first-half goals from Tone Haugen and Hege Riise. The Lionesses came out on top four years ago in the Round of 16, bouncing back to win 2-1 with goals from Stephanie Houghton and Lucy Bronze after Solveig Gulbrandsen had put the Scandinavians ahead.

- Norway has the more favourable head-to-head record after 18 previous meetings between the sides, with 12 wins to England’s four, plus two draws. The first encounter in 1981 produced a Norwegian win, 3-0 the scoreline, as did the most recent showdown in January 2017, although that finished 1-0 thanks to Ada Hegerberg’s winner.

- Gresshoppene - as the Norway side is known - needed a late equaliser from Elise Kellond-Knight against Australia in the knockouts to force extra-time and win the match 4-1 on penalties . Sam Kerr’s penalty miss proved costly for the Matildas as Norway progressed further.

The Lionesses emerged victorious in their round of 16 fixture against Cameroon, which was marred by controversies - right from the Cameroonians showing lack of discipline on the field after a couple of VAR decisions didn’t go their way - to the alleged spitting incident on Toni Duggan .

 

 

-  Norway remains unchanged from its victory against Australia in the round of 16.

- Team news is in- despite doubts over their inclusions, both centre-backs Millie Bright and Steph Houghton are included in the starting XI for England. Phil Neville makes one change from the team that started against Cameroon, with Demi Stokes replacing Alex Greenwood.

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