2023 FIFA Women's World Cup final
England made their first appearance in a big women's tournament in 1984, where they finished as runners-up in the European Championship. They also qualified for the Women's World Cup for the first time in 1995. The best they had done in the tournament before was coming in third place in 2015. Before the tournament, the Lionesses had achieved some important victories. They won their first big trophy at the Women's Euro 2022, which they hosted. They also beat Brazil, who had won the Copa América Femenina, in the first ever Women's Finalissima match, played at Wembley. Under manager Sarina Wiegman, they had only lost one match, which was a friendly against Australia. They were ranked fourth in the FIFA Women's World Ranking. In their group, Group D, they had teams like Haiti, Denmark, and China. In the first two games of the tournament, England won 1–0 against both Haiti and Denmark. Georgia Stanway scored a penalty in one match, and Lauren James scored a goal in the other. Needing only a draw in their last group game, England defeated China 6–1, with Lauren James scoring two goals. In the round of 16, England faced Nigeria, who finished second in their group. The match was tough, and England struggled against Nigeria. Lauren James got a yellow card and was later shown a red card after a VAR check. After a goalless 120 minutes, the match went to a penalty shootout. England won the shootout 4–2, with Georgia Stanway missing a penalty but Nigeria missing two. In the next round, England played against Colombia, who had never reached the quarter-finals before. After Colombia scored, England equalised through Lauren Hemp before the first half ended. A goal from Alessia Russo in the 63rd minute secured England's place in the semi-finals against Australia. In the semi-finals, England played against co-hosts Australia. Ella Toone scored first for England, but Australia equalised through Sam Kerr. Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo scored to help England reach their first Women's World Cup final.