How The Story Of England’s World Cup Dream Unfolded

England were forced to come from behind for the first time at this World Cup to ensure they booked a spot in the semi-final against co-hosts Australia on Wednesday.

Given that both Colombia and England are about 18 and 26 hours away from Australia, respectively, it is quite a shock to see so many of the South American fans having filled up stands all over this tournament, and last night was certainly no different as they easily outnumbered their opponents.

The atmosphere inside Stadium Australia was bouncing and the sight of Colombian fans jumping up and down to rally their players was one to behold, and at one point, looked to be working and making a difference on the pitch when Santos Herrera opened the scoring just prior to first half added time.

Herrera had space on the right-hand side and cut in, before taking one look up at who was in the box, the answer was very few Colombian players, so decided to take aim and catch Earps – the best keeper in the world – out and lob a stunning effort into her far corner.

England show they are mentality monsters, once again

Even when it seemed impossible for the noise to be cranked more, the Colombians did so, the shouts and screams were electric and piercing throughout Sydney, so no wonder what those trailblazing Colombian players would have been celebrating, but perhaps it all got a bit too much for them.

That’s because as the game entered into the seventh minute of added time, Colombia’s Catalina Perez – who was later substituted off – had three attempts to collect a simple ball coming her way on the ground, but after slips, trips and fumbles, the ball was loose and Lauren Hemp was the quickest player to react and slide home an unlikely equaliser.

Colombia fans are just different. It’s such a shame to see them leave the World Cup, but on and off the pitch they’ve been a class act.

Now though, this seems like an England side who are just starting to perform and cope with the pressure at the best time. #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/gvnh9f2g0W

— Aaron Hindhaugh (@AHindhaugh98) August 13, 2023

Sarina Wiegman will have been delighted to go into the break level and to have also quieted down the party atmosphere to an extent in the stands, and it begs the question as to how England would have coped in the second half had Hemp not netted on the stroke of half time.

As the teams re-entered the pitch for the second half, the story of the game remained the same, England dominated the ball and moved it quickly enough to bypass a lot of Colombia’s pressing, which started to frustrate the fans with boos and whistles becoming more prominent when England had the ball.

A date with Australia now awaits Wiegman’s side

That all fell silent, however, just after the hour mark as largely frustrated striker this tournament – Alessia Russo – spun her marker and found herself free in the box and a chance to have a shot at goal, and that’s exactly what she did with Arsenal’s new striker finishing superbly into the far corner.

Stadium Australia largely fell silent, apart from small pockets of England fans who suddenly found their voices and were in dreamland, with flashbacks of last summer’s victory against Spain coming to the fore as the Lionesses had also come from behind that game to book a spot in the next round.

@hindhaugh98

I got front row seats for the Women’s World Cup! #Footbal #worldcup #womensworldcup #wwc #fifawwc #sydney #colombia #Australia #southkorea

♬ Summertime Sadness (Wren Remix) – Wren

England managed to see the game out very professionally and only had one or two hairy moments when Earps was called into action, but on the whole, Colombia seemed to have just run out of steam both on the pitch and in the stands.

They have been a joy to have at the World Cup and brought so much energy and good times to their games, but this was England’s night and could, still be England’s year.