New Women's football thread (inc World Cup) 2023-26

[Gingerfinch]

Great strike but terrible defending

[alfie]

Great strike but terrible defending

Really was . Hemp was not missing that opportunity. Lionesses glad to be back in front.

Lots of time left though...

[bigfluffylemon]

Yep, awful defending.

Australia have been second best, one moment of Kerr brilliance notwithstanding. England have controlled the game much better.

[alfie]

Russo might just have iced it... :

Great ball from Hemp

[Gingerfinch]

Great strike but terrible defending

Really was . Hemp was not missing that opportunity. Lionesses glad to be back in front.

Lots of time left though...

I was on about your goal

[Gingerfinch]

Well done girls

[bigfluffylemon]

Hemp for POTM? She was excellent.

[Gingerfinch]

Hemp for POTM? She was excellent.

Great player.

[alfie]

Yeah Hemp was excellent tonight.

A good win for the Lionesses. Had a couple of dodgy moments in defence but overall bossed the game and you always thought they had more goals in them.

Australia will be very disappointed of course (players look devastated) but I reckon they gave their fans plenty of thrills and really can be proud of getting this far. Still could get third against Sweden ...

England or Spain ? Final should be a cracker.

[sussexpob]

Well done to the ladies. Made someone shove it on in a cafe in Georgia and got a few laughs about watching women football....

This team just does it at major tournaments... Can't wait till Sunday to raise a glass of chacha for the ladies, win lose or draw

[Durhamfootman]

Just watched the game. I knew England had won, but had no idea of the score.

Tbh, while I was watching it, with England a goal up, I didn't think Australia would score in this game, such was England's control, but sometimes the best striker in the world will hit a screamer from out of nothing and there isn't a lot anyone can do about that. 3-1 was a fair reflection of the game. Australia gave it a good go, but England had too much quality

Hemp was terrific tonight, she terrorised the Aussie centre backs. Hemp and Russo are growing into their new roles. Toone has struggled a bit in this comp, but that was a cracking strike. It'll soften the blow when she loses out to James in the final. The back three formation is working really well.

Final word about James.... get her straight into the side. She did a stupid thing, but has a chance at redemption.... help her to grab it with both hands and don't let her future international career be defined by a moment of madness. Play James in the final and I think she'll shine

[Durhamfootman]

England or Spain ? Final should be a cracker.

It'll be a cagey, nervous affair, I reckon. Neither has made it to a WC final before.

The key to beating England is to mark Walsh out of the game and then find 2 goals from somewhere. Colombia did one but not the other, Australia did neither. Spain know all about Walsh, so she will have 2 players on her all night and Spain will want to dominate possession and control the game. England can't afford to sit back and let them play like that, the way they did last year, so they need to use the extra player that Walsh being squeezed out of the game gives them and go hard and fast at Spain, knock them off balance.

No poncing about, because Spain are masters at that

Up and at 'em.... that's the way to win it

[bigfluffylemon]

Agree, alfie. Guess it's England for me all the way from here

Australia have done really well to get this far, and have definitely got a country behind them. Feels like a watershed moment for football, especially women's football in a country whose main winter interests remain Aussie rules and rugby. Let's see if it is sustained.

[bigfluffylemon]

Looks as if last night's semi completely smashed the audience record - for anything in Australia.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-17/ ... /102741074

[GarlicJam]

Apparently that match was the most watched TV event in Australia since Cathy Freeman's gold in the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Not sporting event, any TV program. Full stop. They're reckoning it reached over 8 million, out of a population of 25 million.

Given the video reactions, and the crowds I saw, I'll believe it.

Obviously not winning was disappointing - but not truly surprising for most, I am sure. Same as I think that most feel the disappointment of not winning last night is greatly outweighed by the thrill of the run to the semi/being in the semi.

Watching the build up to the game since the France result, I got the feeling that most Australians were treating it as a festival of sorts. It helped that the win over the French was so dramatic, and it really helped being a home tournament.

Well done, Matildas, you made a huge majority of the nation sit up and take notice. Pretty good for Football in Australia.