Sarina Wiegman has questioned whether she is “in a fairytale” after guiding England to their first Women’s World Cup final following a 3-1 win against co-hosts Australia. Ella Toone, who replaced the suspended Lauren James for the Lionesses’ quarter-final win over Colombia, scored 36 minutes into her third start of the tournament in front of a capacity crowd of 75,784 in Sydney. Australia captain Sam Kerr, making her first start of competition, equalised for the first-time semi-finalists with a stunning individual goal after the break before Lauren Hemp put England back out in front. Alessia Russo made it 3-1 late in the second half to cap off the historic encounter and set up an all-European final showdown against Spain on Sunday. Wiegman will now appear in a fourth successive final as a head coach after winning the 2017 Women’s Euros with the Netherlands, who she managed in the World Cup final defeat to the United States two years later, before she led England to European glory last summer. Speaking after the semi-final victory pitchside, Wiegman told BBC One: “We achieved the final and it’s unbelievable, it feels like we’ve won it. “But we won this game, it’s an incredible stadium, an away game, of course it was a hard game but again we found a way to win. “We scored three goals, in this team that ruthlessness, whether it’s up front or in defence we really want to keep the ball out of the net, we really want to win and we stick together. We stick to the plan and it worked again.” Am I in a fairytale or something? England boss Sarina Wiegman She added: “The chance as a coach you make it to two finals is really special, I never take anything for granted but I’m like – am I in a fairytale or something?” England defender Lucy Bronze was overwhelmed after finally reaching the World Cup final at the third time of asking after featuring in England’s previous semi-final defeats. “This is the one thing I’ve always wanted, to be in the final of a World Cup and after two times of getting such disappointment, I honestly can’t believe it.” She added: “We all dreamed of being in the final and all our family and friends booked here to stay until the final because they believed in us. To have everybody here and all that support is unbelievable. “It’s been amazing to play against Australia, what a fantastic tournament they had, but I’m so happy to get to the final.” Sunday’s final sees Bronze and Keira Walsh pitted against some of their Barcelona team-mates and the defender praised Spain’s performance in the tournament. Bronze said: “They’ve been very good. Me and Keira know 90 per cent of the starting 11 pretty well so I think we’ll be getting asked a lot of questions ahead of the final.” Captain Millie Bright echoed her team-mate’s sentiments that “the dream remains alive”. “I think it’s a moment that we’ve wanted for so long, we had amazing success last summer, but we always knew there was something missing and it was the World Cup,” she said. “Now we have that opportunity and like Less (Russo) said before, the dream remains alive. What an incredible semi-final.” Bright will lead the team out on Sunday and admitted it will feel “incredible”. She added: “Crazy, to be honest I’m just keeping two feet on the ground and remaining on task and focused,” she said. “I don’t even have any words for that, to be saying we’re going to the final is crazy and overwhelming – there’s so many different emotions. “Just so happy we could give the fans the dream they wanted back home and the fans that are here as well, but to lead them out will be absolutely incredible.”

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Spain face Netherlands in an all-European clash at the Women’s World Cup as the quarter-finals get underway in Australia and New Zealand. Spain returned to form in the last-16 as they bounced back from their 4-0 defeat to Japan by thrashing Switzerland 5-1, with Aitana Bonmati playing a starring role with two goals as La Roja reached their first ever Women’s World Cup quarter-final. The Netherlands were given a stern test by South African in Sydney but progressed thanks to a stunning display from goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar in the 2-0 win, as the Oranje look to go one step further than their Women’s World Cup final defeat four years ago. Later, Japan face the biggest test of their campaign yet as they take on Sweden. Japan have been the standout team of the tournament so far, but Sweden offer a true test of their ambitions after the Olympic silver medalists knocked out the United States in the last-16. Follow live updates from Spain vs Netherlands as the World Cup quarter-finals get underway Read More Women’s World Cup TV schedule: How to watch every match today Who and when do England play next? Lionesses route to the World Cup final Lauren James handed ban for World Cup red card

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