European champions England defeated Australia to reach their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup final. England, ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings, defeated Australia, ranked 10th in the FIFA rankings, 3-1 on Saturday in the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia.It is the first time England has reached the final of the Women’s World Cup, which has been held since 1991 and is now in its ninth edition.England, whose previous best finish was third in 2015, topped Group D with three straight wins, defeating Haiti (1-0), Denmark (1-0) and China (6-1) in the tournament’s group stage.They edged Nigeria on penalties in the round of 16, came from behind to beat Colombia 2-1 in the quarterfinals, and upset hosts Australia to reach their first ever final.England will play for the trophy at Stadium Australia on Tuesday against Spain, who also reached their first final after beating Sweden 2-1 in the semifinals the day before.The two teams met in the quarterfinals of last year’s European Women’s Football Championship (Women’s Euro), which England won 2-1 after extra time. England went on to defeat Sweden and Germany to win their first Women’s Euro title.Meanwhile, Australia, the highest FIFA ranked Asian Football Confederation (AFC) nation, were unable to maintain the momentum of their first-ever quarterfinal appearance and were pushed 스포츠토토 into a 3-4 playoff against Sweden on Monday.England opened the scoring in the 36th minute through Ella Toon.On the left side of the goal area, Alessia Russo turned away from the defense and laid the ball low for Thorne to finish with her right foot.It was Toon’s first goal of the tournament while striker Lauren James, who has three goals and three assists in the tournament, was sidelined with a two-match ban for stomping on a defender’s buttocks in the round of 16 against Nigeria.Australia, who came out firing after the concession, equalized in the 18th minute of the second half with a wonder goal from ‘Legend’ Sam Kerr.Kerr dribbled in from behind the halfway line on an Australian counter-attack and hit a thunderous mid-range shot from well behind the penalty arc. With her 14th World Cup goal, Kerr extended her tally to 64, the most ever by an Australian women’s player in an A-Match.Australia’s joy was short-lived, however.In the 26th minute of the second half, a long ball in from the back allowed Lauren Hemp to break into the penalty area, beat her man and rattle the net with her left foot to give England the lead again.After Australia’s repeated attempts at a comeback, led by Kerr, came to nothing, Rousseau’s wedge goal in the 41st minute put England in complete control.It was the second consecutive game that Hemp and Rousseau found the back of the net to lead England to the final, after scoring the opening and final goals in the quarterfinals against Colombia.