England's women footballers made it through to their first ever World Cup final today after beating Australia 3-1 in a tense semi-final as days of banter between the two nations ended in heartbreak for the Matildas.

Australian fans were left crying into their beers as goals for England from Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo sealed victory and put England one win away from lifting two major trophies in just under 13 months.

Second half strikes for the European champions from Russo and Hemp silenced the home crowd of 75,000 hostile fans amid a febrile atmosphere in Sydney, with Hemp's strike coming just minutes after Sam Kerr had equalised.