More reaction and analysis
Match report and ratings
Here’s Suzanne Wrack on England’s matchwinner, Lucy Bronze:
Ellen White is up to second in the Golden Boot race, matching Alex Morgan’s five goals:
Match report: Norway 0-3 England
Louise Taylor was at the Stade de Oceané for the Guardian and typed her fingers to the bone to bring you this on-the-whistle report as England qualified for the Women’s World Cup semi-final.
WE'RE HEADING TO LYON! 🔥#LIONESSES pic.twitter.com/L08yIqMXrw
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) June 27, 2019
Lucy Bronze speaks ...
“I think for us it was comfortable game, even out of possession we were comfortable,” says England’s woman of the match, the Lyon star who will be playing at her home ground in the semi-final. “We were solid and we were clinical and found the gaps in their defence,” she tells the BBC. “I’ve been dreaming of playing in Lyon and all that passion came out in that strike. Playing Norway in a knockout game is special for us and I’m just excited to be going to Lyon now.”
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Phil Neville speaks ...
“We expected nothing else, really,” says England’s manager in an interview with the BBC upon being asked for his thoughts on England’s emphatic win. “That’s not me being arrogant. We’re having the time of our lives – look at the spirit of the team. I thought it should have been four or five, to be honest, although Steph’s clearance off the line was great.”
Asked about the performance of Lucy Bronze, he is full of praise. “You’ve seen tonight that Lucy Bronze is the best player in the world, without a shadow of a doubt,” he says. “I played full-back, but not to that level. She’s the best player in the world.”
Quizzed on who he’d like as England’s semi-final opponents, he says he doesn’t care. “Well, you know what - we want to play them both,” he says. “We’re not bothered who we play. We’ll go to Lyon and the atmosphere and the occasion will be great. We’re having fun.”
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England’s improvement continues: This was an excellent performance from England, if you’re prepared to look past that second-half wobble. They were rampant almost throughout and were well worth their win. Jill Scott, Ellen White and Lucy Bronze got the goals which booked their team’s place in the last four of the tournament.
Norway have been outclassed tonight, but will feel they should at least have got on the scoresheet. They were presented with several good chances through the misguided benevolence of England’s defenders.
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Full-time: Norway 0-3 England
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeep! It’s all over and England are through to the Women’s World Cup semi-final. They’ll play the USA or France in Lyon next Tuesday after scoring three without reply against Norway. They’ve been excellent tonight, save for one seven or eight-minute period in which they completely lost focus halfway through the second half.
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90+4 min: There’s a break in play as Vilde Risa gets treatment for an injury, possibly cramp.
90+3 min: Thorisdottir is on hand to intercept a Daly cross into the Norway box.
90+2 min: Rachel Daly picks out Beth Mead at the far post with a cross, but she’s unable to convert from a very tight angle. All three England substitutes have looked very lively indeed since coming on, a testament to the squad’s strength in depth.
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90 min: England go in search of a fourth, with Georgia Stanway shooting well wide after being put through by Rachel Daly, who did well to draw two defenders and create space for her fellow substitute to unleash a shot.
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88 min: Thorisdottir gets the first booking of the night for a rather agricultural challenge on Ellen White. England substitution: Rachel Daly on for Nikita Parris, who has had a good game, her penalty miss aside.
87 min: Norway substitution: Ingrid Moe Wold off, Caroline Graham Hansen on.
85 min: It was poor effort from Parris, who was made to wait a long time to take her penalty. She fired the ball at an easy height for Hjelmseth and placed it nearer the middle than the upright.
Nikita Parris misses from the spot!!!
Saved!!! Nikita Parris misses her second consecutive penalty as she is foiled by Norway goalkeeper Ingrid Hjelmseth, who flings herself to her right and bats the ball away.
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Penalty for England!
82 min: At a set-piece, Steph Houghton gets in front of Thorisdottir as she chases the ball in flight and receives a shove in the back. It’s a spot-kick for England.
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80 min: England have now gone sixz hours without conceding a goal, a state of affairs I find surprising considering their habit of completely switching off for 10-minute periods in each game.
80 min: White is OK to continue, which is good news for England.
77 min: Ellen White and the Norway goalkeeper, Hjelmseth, leap for a high ball floated in over the top from Keire Walsh and both go down in a heap after a mid-air collision. White appears to have injured her left elbow on landing and receives treatment.
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74 min: England substitution: Georgia Stanway on for Fran Kirby. Norway substitution: Amalie Eikeland on for Gura Reiten. Moments previously the outstanding centre-forward and substitute Utland had gone close for Norway once again, almost diverting a long-range effort from a team-mate into the England net with a deft back-heel that sent the ball mere inches wide of the upright.
71 min: Going back to Utland’s first goalscoring opportunity – Karen Bardsley saved her effort with her feet and fouled the striker, who didn’t go down. If she had, Norway would almost certainly have had a penalty and Bardsley might have been sent off. England have been absolutely awful in the past five minutes and have gifted Norway three excellent scoring chances.
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69 min: Norway go close again, with Bardsley called into action to save the day. She gets strong hand to Caroline Graham Hanson’s shot after the forward had outmuscled Bright to get on the end of a through ball from Ingrid Engen.
68 min: Another error from Bright results in Utland being put through again, this time by a team-mate. She unleashes a low drive that doesn’t trouble Bardsley unduly.
66 min: An atrocious no-look back-pass to Karen Bardsley from Millie Bright finds its way to Utland, the recently introduced substitute, who unleashes a shot under pressure that is blocked on the line by Steph Houghton.
64 min: Norway substitution: Lisa-Marie Karlseng Utland comes on for Karina Saevik. Moments later, England win a corner. The ball’s played short to Stokes, who creates an angle to get a cross in. It’s too close to Hjelmseth, who clutches the ball to her stomach.
63 min: Lucy Bronze arrows a cross into the midfield from the right flank, trying to pick out Beth Mead. Her delivery is too close to the Norwegian keeper, Hjelmseth, who gathers comfortably. She could probably have done a little better for England’s third goal – Bronze’s howitzer appeared to go through her hands.
62 min: More heroics from Bronze, who is on hand to hack the ball out for a corner after Steph Houghton had misjudged the flight of a cross heading towards Herlovsen. Nothing comes from the set-piece.
59 min: Atrocious defending from Norway, who keep leaving Bronze unmarked at set pieces, despite getting repeated warnings. They’ve paid a heavy price and have a mountain to climb if they’re to get back into this game. I expected a lot more from them in this game, I must say, but they’ve been very disappointing. They look very tired, which is unsurprising considering how reluctant their manager Martin Sjogren’s reluctance to rotate his squad.
GOAL! Norway 0-3 England (Bronze 57)
It’s three! Lucy Bronze rifles a surface-to-air screamer into the roof of the net from about 25 metres out after being left unmarked once again at a set-piece. From the dead ball situation, Beth Mead pulled the ball her way and Bronze unleashed a fantastic shot.
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56 min: Lucy Bronze goes down after a tussle with Ingrid Engen, who concedes a free-kick between the right side of the Norway penalty area and the touchline.
55 min: Karen Bardsley comes off her line quickly to dive at the feet of Gura Reiten and prevent the Norway midfielder from clipping a shot home from the right side of the six-yard box.
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53 min: Good play from Demi Stokes, who prevents Ingrid Moe Wold from getting a cross in from the right flank. England substitution: Toni Duggan off, Beth Mead on.
51 min: England win a free-kick wide on the right and with Lucy Bronze lurking with intent outside the area, Toni Duggan pulls the ball her way. Referee Lucila Venegas orders a retake and Norway again fail to pick up Bronze. Duggan sends a cross into the box this time, but it’s cleared.
50 min: Ellen White tries to scuttle between two retreating defenders and latch on to a long ball from deep, but isn’t quite quick enough. Moments later, Nikita Parris and Norway central defender Maria Thorisdottir get involved in a minor spat, but it’s something and nothing.
47 min: Norway go perilously close to pulling a goal back after some atrocious defending from England. Steph Houghton is on hand to get back and intervene when Caroline Graham Hansen controlled a pass on the edge of the sixth yard box with her midriff and looked certain to score.
Second half: Norway 0-2 England
46 min: Norway get the ball rolling for the second half.
Phil Neville speaks: “Same again,” he tells the BBC, upon being asked what’s required in the second half. “Same concentration, same speed of movement, same sequences of passes. It’s about concentration now, discipline and we had that in the first half and we need it again.”
Half-time: Norway 0-2 England
Both sets of players go in for the break with a two goal lead and are well worth it. JillScott opened the scoring within three minutes and Ellen White doubled their lead with five minutes of the half remaining. They’ve dominated almost throughout, but have been prone to giving the ball away. They are killing Norway down the right flank, where Lucy Bronze and Nikita Parris have been irresistible.
45 min: More pressure from England. Demi Stokes sends a cross to the far post from the left flank. The goalkeeper leaps but can’t get a hand to the ball and Jill Scott tries to hook it home. She can’t quite get her foot around the ball and pokes it narrowly wide at full stretch.
42 min: Fran Kirby is down injured and receiving treatment after doing herself some sort of mischief in the build-up to Ellen White’s fifth goal in this tournament. She’s fit to continue. Play resumes and Demi Stokes is given a talking-to by referee Lucila Venegas, who ticks her off for kicking the ball away after a decision had gone against her.
GOAL! Norway 0-2 England (White 40)
England double their lead courtesy of Ellen White. Down the right flank, Lucy Bronze plays the ball inside to Nikita Parris, who pings it goalwards around a defender and into the path of White. She sweeps the ball home from a couple of yards out.
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38 min: Fran Kirby cuts inside from the left and lofts a cross to the far post. Nikita Parris beats her marker, Minde, but her downward header is poor and bounces off the turf and up into the waiting arms of Ingrid Hjelmsseth.
36 min: A poor touch from England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley, who makes a hash of trying to deal with a Steph Houghton back-pass. She gets away with it.
Going back to that Ellen White shot that hit the woodwork a few minutes ago - she’ll be gutted not to have scored. I’ve just seen a replay and she really caught a bouncing, dropping ball with the sweet spot and unleashed a smashing right-footed volley which fizzed diagonally across the face of goal and smashed against the post.
33 min: There’s no review, but the ball did hit the arm of Demi Stokes (not Bright, apologies - and it’s not as if they look even remotely alike!), but only after it spun upwards after she’d blocked it with her foot. Is that a handball these days? I honestly don’t know any more.
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31 min: Gura Reiten shoots from distance for Norway and her effort is blocked by Bright. The Norwegian appeals for handball and we might have a review once the ball goes out of play.
30 min: England are well worth their lead and could be as many as three goals to the good, but they are also capable of extreme sloppiness when it comes to giving the ball away.
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27 min: A Jill Scott delivery from the left is blocked by Kristine Minde and England win a throw-in. It’s taken and within seconds, England have rattled the woodwork, courtesy of an Ellen White strike that hits the upright.
26 min: Norway goalkeeper Ingrid Hjelmseth plucks the ball from the air as a ball from deep is lofted towards her goal with a mite too much welly.
24 min: Jill Scott loses the ball and Norway get forward with a three-on-three on the fringe of the England penalty area. Caroline Graham Hansen tries a shot from distance, but it’s blocked by Bright.
23 min: England attack on the counter with White on the ball, but Norway’s defenders get back to cover and avert the danger.
20 min: Nikita Parris does superbly to cut in from the right and take out a defender. With Ellen White unmarked in the centre, the winger elects to shoot instead of pass and skies a half-decent chance over the bar. England should be two up.
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19 min: England continue to dominate possession and midfield and are enjoying particularly notable success down the right flank, with their Bronze-Parris axis. Bronze releases Ellen White down the right flank, but with no options open to her, she pings the ball backwards again.
17 min: Graham Hansen goes running down the inside right flank with the ball at her feet, but has a stop put to her gallop by Bronze, who dispossesses her and clears the danger.
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14 min: Norway embark on a sortie into England territory, probing for an opening. The ball’s crossed to Ingrid Moe Wold in the penalty area, who eschews the option to unleash a diagonal volley towards goal and then stymies her chances of fashioning any other kind of chance with a very heavy first touch.
12 min: England win a throw-in down by the managers’ technical area, which Demi Stokes takes. Behind her, Phil Neville is looking very animated indeed.
10 min: Norway striker Isabell Herlovsen gets in behind Steph Houghton to latch on to a long ball down the left. Houghton gets back to get between Herlovsen and the goal and the Norwegian runs the ball out of play for a goal kick.
9 min: Norway win a corner after good work from Caroline Graham Hansen down the inside left. It too comes to nothing and a poor delivery is cleared by Millie Bright at the near post.
7 min: England corner, which comes to naught. They’re completely bossing the early stages of this match, causing Norway all sorts of problems down both flanks.
6 min: From the left touchline, Toni Duggan sends a cross to the far post, where goalscorer Scott has made a run. The delivery is a mite too high for the midfielder.
5 min: A good lawyer could probably argue that Ellen White mis-kick was an intentional and very clever dummy, but I’m not having it. She’s welcome to claim otherwise.
4 min: What a start from England! Lucy Bronze gallops down the right flank and cuts inside before pulling the ball back from the byline. Ellen White swings a leg to convert but hits a fresh-air shot. The ball rolls to Jill Scott, who scuffs it home off the upright.
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GOAL! Norway 0-1 England (Scott 3)
3 min: England take the lead courtesy of Jill Scott.
1 min: Nikita Parris gets an early cross into the Norway box from the right flank, trying to pick out Fran Kirby but Norway clear. Moments later, Demi Stokes gets the ball in from the left and the ball goes out for a corner off a Norway defender. The match officials award a goal-kick.
Norway v England is go!!!
1 min: England get the ball rolling courtesy of Ellen White, their players wearing white shirts, white shorts and white socks. Norway’s sport ... em, I’m going to go with burgundy-fading-to-navy shirts, navy shorts and burgundy and navy socks.
Not long now: Led by referee Lucia Venegas and her assistants, the Norway and England teams march out of the tunnel and on to the pitch, led by skippers Moren Mjelde and Steph Houghton. There are empty seats visible at the Stade de Oceane, but an estimated crowd of 20,000 is present. It’s time for the national anthems and kick-off is less than five minutes away.
David Beckham in the house: The former England international is here with his little girl, Harper, to cheer on England’s Lionesses tonight.
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Phil Neville speaks: “I’m lucky in that I’ve got two of the best left-backs in the world,” he says to the BBC, upon being asked why Demi Stokes has come in tonight. “We just thought today with Demi’s freshness and her ability to play tight alongside Millie Bright, that it would work to our advantage.”
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Obligatory Ada Hegerberg mention: If Norway are to progress tonight, they will have to do so without the best player in the world, Ada Hegerberg. The Ballon D’Or winner has stood herself down from the Norway team since after the 2017 Euros on the back of assorted grievances she has with her country’s Football Association. They’ve coped admirably without her so far.
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Norway v England line-ups
Norway: Hjelmseth, Moe Wold, Thorisdottir, Mjelde, Boe Risa, Herlovsen, Graham-Hansen, Engen, Reiten, Minde, Saevik.
England: Bardsley, Bronze, Houghton, Bright, Stokes, Walsh, Parris, Scott, Kirby, Duggan, White.
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Houghton and Bright start for England ...
The teams are in and England fans will be pleased to learn that both Steph Houghton and Millie Bright start, despite Phil Neville saying they were both serious doubts ahead of tonight’s game. Neville makes one change from the team that started against Cameroon, with Demi Stokes coming in for Alex Greenwood.
Tonight’s ticketing arrangements
Travelling fans who bought their tickets for tonight’s match from the FA were instructed to pick them up from a pub, no less. “All tickets must be collected by the lead booker from Le Trappist bar in Le Havre on matchday between 1pm-7pm,” read an FA statement.
Boasting a 4.5 star review on Trip Advisor, Le Trappist appears to bve renowned for its “great atmosphere, fantastic beer selection and good prices”. It also boasts a nice seafood menu, even if one French customer, who appears to be very much in the minority, claimed that “maintenant c’est devenu trop commercial, froid, horrible, serveurs malaimables (now it is too commercial, cold, horrible and has unfriendly waiting staff”. Ouch.
Genuinely love that I pick my @Lionesses @England World Cup quarter final tickets up from a pub. Follow my team rocks. Love this tournament. Thanks @FA @gresty_lauren #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/UC1XzCldqy
— Jo Tongue (@tonguetweets) June 27, 2019
Tonight’s match officials
Referee: Lucila Venegas (Mexico)
Assistant Referee 1: Mayte Chavez (Mexico)
Assistant Referee 2: Enedina Caudillo (Mexico)
Fourth Official: Katalin Kulcsar (Hungary)
VAR: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy)
AVAR 1: Paolo Valeri (Italy)
AVAR 2: Manuela Nicolosi (France)
Lucila Venegas is the best referee in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) regions and has won awards confirming as much in the past two years. A 37-year-old with a degree in Physical Culture and Sports from the University of Guadalajara, Ms Venegas obtained her Fifa badge 10 years ago. This is her second Women’s World Cup and she also officiated at the Rio Olympics.
Some pre-match listening
Max Rushden asked the difficult questions as myself, Chris Paouros and Philippe Auclair previewed this match, talked about the latest crisis at Newcastle and took Derby fans to task over their hypocrisy, among other subjects, on the latest thrilling episode of our Football Weekly podcast. You can listen to it here and if you don’t already subscribe, sign up for free in all the usual pod places.
Tonight’s weather
The temperature in Le Havre peaked at 27 degrees celsius today and is expected to be around 25 degrees at kick-off tonight with a cool breeze, dropping to 22 at around 11pm. Phil Neville has said he has no concerns about his players struggling in the heat.
“I think it’s an English obsession, the weather,” he said. “We actually like it being hot. We have provisions in place and we spent virtually two weeks in a sauna without air conditioning in St George’s Park before coming to France. We know it will be hot, but the ball won’t get tired if we pass it well.” Two weeks in a sauna is a very long time. I can barely last 20 minutes.
England’s pre-match press conference
Phil Neville and goalkeeper Karen Bardsley fronted up to face the press and field their interrogatory projectiles yesterday and you can hear what they had to say by watching the accompanying video.
Early team news
Despite television footage of her gadding about freely on the beach that suggests otherwise, Phil Neville says central defender Steph Houghton is a major doubt for tonight’s game following the nasty foul on her ankle committed by Cameroon’s Alexandra Takounda towards the end of their last game. Houghton’s fellow centre-back Millie Bright has been laid low by a virus that has affected several members of the England camp to the varying degrees and is also a concern after being confined to barracks all day yesterday.
Abbie McManus and Leah Williamson are on standby, but Neville will give both Houghton and Bright every chance of recovering from their respective maladies before making his final decision. Norway manager Martin Sjogren has a fully fit squad to choose from, his players having come through their round of 16 epic against Australia unscathed.
Women's World Cup quarter-final: Norway v England
Le Havre’s Stade de Océane ids the venue for the first of the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals, which pits England against Norway. A place in the semi-finals against the USA or hosts France is up for grabs and while England go into the match as favourites, their preparations for this game have not gone entirely swimmingly since their win in a fractious match against Cameroon. Kick-off in Normandy is at 8pm (BST), but stay tuned for team news and build-up in the meantime.
