England’s Chloe Kelly, right, celebrates after scoring in a penalty shootout to give England the win over Nigeria in the Women’s World Cup on Monday in Brisbane, Australia. Tertius Pickard/Associated Press
BRISBANE, Australia — Down a player after star forward Lauren James was ejected, England was facing the prospect of an upset against Nigeria and a round-of-16 exit at the Women’s World Cup.
The European champion Lionesses remained calm enough to get through regulation and extra time at 0-0 and won a penalty shootout 4-2 to scrape into the quarterfinals on Monday.
England became the title favorite after the two-time reigning champion U.S. was eliminated on Sunday in a penalty shootout loss to Sweden. No. 2-ranked Germany, Olympic champion Canada and Brazil didn’t even reach the knockout stage.
But the Lionesses struggled to create opportunities against Nigeria and, with five minutes remaining in regulation, an upset loomed when James received a red card after a VAR review.
She initially was given a yellow card by referee Melissa Borjas after falling on top of Michelle Alozie and then stepping on the Nigeria defender. The crowd groaned as slow-motion replays on the stadium screens showed the incident, and, after a delay of several minutes, the yellow card was upgraded to red.
British media instantly reacted by comparing it with David Beckham’s red card for kicking out at Argentina’s Diego Simeone at the 1998 World Cup in France. The red card means James will miss at least the quarterfinal and a potential semifinal.
But after a run of injuries to senior players and the loss of James, England Coach Sarina Wiegman praised her team for adapting to every challenge.
“I’ve never experienced so many problems,” Wiegman said. “It’s my job to think of things that can happen in a game or a tournament. You try to turn every stone and try to already think of a solution if things happen. Today, we got totally tested on those turned stones.”
Wiegman said her 21-year-old star “in a split second lost her emotions.”
“Of course she doesn’t want to hurt anyone,” the coach added. “She’s the sweetest person I know.”
The Lionesses immediately had to change formation in the 10-on-11 scenario, bringing on Chloe Kelly to play a solo role up front. She kicked the final penalty to clinch the shootout win.
Alozie was clear eight minutes into stoppage time but skewed her left-foot shot from seven yards wide of the post.
Veteran forward Asisat Oshoala forced a save from England goalkeeper Mary Earps deep in extra time.
After narrowly escaping with a win, England will meet Colombia or Jamaica in Sydney next Saturday in the quarterfinals.
AUSTRALIA 2, DENMARK 0: Australia advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Denmark in Sydney.
Goals from Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso ensured the Matlidas weren’t the latest big name to crash out following the eliminations of the United States, Germany and Brazil.
The tournament co-host will face France or Morocco in Brisbane on Saturday.
Australian fans will start to believe their team could go on to be crowned world champion after star striker Sam Kerr returned from a calf injury to make her first appearance at the tournament.
In front of a crowd of 75,784 at Stadium Australia, the Matildas already put themselves on course for the last eight by the time Kerr made her entrance in the 80th minute.
Foord fired Australia in front in the 29th after running on to a pass from Mary Fowler.
Raso drilled home a second in the 70th after Emily van Egmond’s lay off.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
