BBC Sports’ Alex Scott and Gabby Logan celebrate in the locker room with England’s ‘Lioness legends’ after they storm into World Cup final
BBC Sports presenters Alex Scott and Gabby Logan celebrated with England’s Lionesses after they reached the World Cup final following a 3-1 victory over Australia in Sydney on Wednesday.
Taking to Instagram Gabby, 50, shared a glimpse of the jubilant commentary box, before heading off to join the team in the locker room.
Alex, 38, cut a stylish figure in a black leather trench as she pumped her fit in the air following the tense match alongside former England player Ellen White, 34.
Gabby then shared BTS snaps as they joined the triumphant players before continuing the celebrations in front of the city’s famous opera house.
She captioned the post: ‘A very special night in Sydney. England are in a World Cup Final, still feels a little bit surreal to say it’.
Celebrate! BBC Sports presenters Alex Scott (pictured) and Gabby Logan celebrated with England’s Lionesses after they reached the World Cup final following a 3-1 victory over Australia in Sydney on Wednesday
Winners! Taking to Instagram Gabby (3rd right) shared a glimpse of the jubilant commentary box, before they headed off to join the team in the changing room
‘A couple of Lioness legends popped over to see their old playing mates afterwards, casual, smiling, grounded, just how we love our sporting superstars. They have one more push on Sunday join us at 10am BBC 1 and see if they can make history.’
Ant and Dec, Holly Willoughby and Romeo Beckham joined a slew of stars flooding social media with praise for team.
A tense match saw the team storm to victory over their classic rivals thanks to goals from Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo, meaning they’ll go head-to-head with Spain in the final on Sunday.
After receiving well-wishes from big names including David Beckham ahead of the match, it was no surprise that stars were quick to laud the Lionesses for getting the job done in spectacular fashion.
Holly took to Instagram to share a snap of the Lionesses in their post-match huddle, writing: ‘Utterly incredible… wow wee! Congratulations @lionesses #lionesses.’
Tuning into the exciting match, Romeo took to Instagram Stories to share a snap of his TV as the final minutes ticked down.
Posting on their shared Twitter account, Ant and Dec wrote: ‘Wow #Lionesses. You are incredible! Come on England!’
Gary posted: ‘Well played @Lionesses. Absolutely superb performance. A World Cup final. A World Cup final at football. It’s been a while. What a wonderful achievement.’
Let’s party: Alex, 38 (L) cut a stylish figure in a black leather trench as she pumped her fit in the air following the tense match
Big win! Former England winner Ellie White joined Alex with a cheer
Photobomb: Gabby shared fun snaps as she and a pal rub shoulders with the players
Big night: Gabby then shared BTS snaps as they joined the triumphant players before continuing the celebrations in front of the city’s famous opera house
Well done! Holly Willoughby (pictured), Ant and Dec and Paddy McGuinness have joined a slew of stars flooding social media with praise for the team
Sensational! The team stormed to victory over their bitter rivals Australia
Paddy shared a snap of his TV as the final whistle blew, adding: ‘Absolute, stone cold, class!!! Love this team!!! Bring on the final.’
Liam Gallagher tweeted: ‘Congratulations to the lionesses c’mon LG x.’
Piers Morgan wrote: ‘Never thought I’d get up at 3am to watch women’s football, but I did and it was brilliant. Love these @Lionesses – such great ambassadors for England.’
Ian Wright, who has been in Australia cheering on the Lionesses during the tournament, couldn’t contain his excitement in a video posted to Instagram.
The Arsenal star embraced fans in the stadium after the final whistle blew with an England flag wrapped around his neck.
England Captain Harry Kane also offered his own words of congratulations, saying: ‘Massive congratulations to the Lionesses. I was watching it and saw we went 1-0 up and then got pulled away [for training] but I saw it finished 3-1 so it sounds like a heck of a game.
Stunned: Holly took to Instagram to share a snap of the Lionesses in their post-match huddle, writing: ‘Utterly incredible… wow wee! Congratulations @lionesses #lionesses’
They’re victorious! Tuning into the exciting match, Romeo took to Instagram Stories to share a snap of his TV as the final minutes ticked down
Riding high! After receiving well-wishes from big names including David Beckham ahead of the match, it was no surprise that stars were quick to laud the Lionesses
Over the moon! England captain Harry Kane also shared his own message of congratulations for the Lionesses
Sensational! A tense match saw the team storm to victory over their classic rivals thanks to goals from Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo
Victory! Second half strikes for the European champions from Russo and Hemp silenced the home crowd of 75,000 hostile fans
We won! Ian Wright, who has been in Australia cheering on the Lionesses during the tournament, couldn’t contain his excitement in a video posted to Instagram
We won! The Arsenal star embraced fans in the stadium after the final whistle blew with an England flag wrapped around his neck
What’s next? England will now take on Spain for the trophy this Sunday at 11am UK time, after they beat Sweden 2-1 on Tuesday to book their trip to the final
‘Massive congratulations, we’re all behind them and hopefully they can do it in the final. We saw what the Euros did for the game and how much it brought the country together. I’ll be watching the final out here obviously but I wish them all the best, they deserve it.’
England’s women footballers celebrated as they made it through to their first ever World Cup final after beating Australia 3-1, with goals from Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo.
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.
England will now take on Spain for the trophy this Sunday at 11am UK time, after they beat Sweden 2-1 on Tuesday to book their trip to the final. The match comes just over a year after England won Euro 2022 by beating Germany.
In the semi-final, both sides had early chances, with a key flashpoint just seconds in as Australia got a free kick after England’s Keira Walsh fouled Sam Kerr. Then, Alex Greenwood was booked on ten minutes for fouling Kerr.
England opened the scoring in the 36th minute when the ball skipped past Hemp inside the area and fell at the feet of Toone, who gave Australia goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold no chance with a strike into the top right corner.
The Lionesses held a 1-0 lead at half-time, while millions of England fans watched on TV back home – with some taking a few hours off work to go to a pub or having it on the background while ‘working from home’.
As the second half began, England had an early scare when Australia’s Mary Fowler sent in an expert cross for Caitlin Foord, although she could not angle the header dangerously enough and forced a save from Mary Earps.
And the breakthrough for the Matildas came when Kerr scored a delightful goal in the 63rd minute after picking up the ball just inside the Australia half. She ran and ran before releasing an arrow-like long-range strike into the net.
But England retook the lead when Millie Bright sent a perfect long ball from the backline up to a running Hemp, who picked it up with ease, sneaked through the defence, drew out Arnold and fired into the goal in the 71st.
And, 15 minutes later, Hemp slipped through the Matildas to pick out Russo on the edge of the box, who made it 3-1 in the 86th minute. England then saw out the rest of the match, including six minutes of injury time at the end.
Defender Lucy Bronze was overwhelmed after the game, telling the BBC: ‘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.’
When asked what manager Sarina Wiegman said, Bronze said: ‘We played the game how we wanted to, we were resilient, determined, I couldn’t hear much else she was saying to be honest! We knew the crowd were going to be crazy tonight and she was saying about silencing them and I feel like we did that at the end after the third goal.’
But it comes as the England team found themselves on the receiving end of a bizarre spying controversy after a training session was photographed from a helicopter.
You can do it! David Beckham was among those sending good luck messages to the Lionesses ahead of the semi-final match
Support: David Beckham’s daughter Harper also featured in the good luck video for the Lionesses
Determined: Manchester United and England men’s player Marcus Rashford has also shown his support for the Lionesses and star Ella Toone
The European champions will take on the Matildas at Sydney’s sold-out Stadium Australia, where most of the 75,000 in attendance will be backing the co-hosts.
The winner of today’s contest will take on Spain for the trophy this Sunday at 11am UK time, after the team beat Sweden 2-1 yesterday to book their trip to the final.
It comes after tickets intended for England fans were bought up by Australians after a unique Lionesses code for an allocation of 1,970 was leaked on social media.
In a video message ahead of the match, Beckham said: ‘Hey girls, I just wanted to say wow, what a tournament it’s been so far. It’s been so much fun to watch and we’re all so proud as a nation of what you’ve achieved already.
‘But seeing you girls play as a team, it’s been really incredible. So continue to do so, good luck in this next game, and just know that our whole nation is behind you as always and good luck.’
He then moved his camera over to Harper, 12, who said: ‘Good luck, Lionesses!’ Beckham added: ‘There’s Harper. Keep inspiring these girls because it’s incredible to watch and I’m very, very happy that you’re doing it for this one. Good luck, girls.’
It comes after the Australian Daily Telegraph sent up an aircraft to capture images from the Lionesses’ behind-closed-doors session at their training base as they finalised plans for today’s match.
Published under the headline ‘Eleven Poms against a nation: Welcome to the jungle, Lionesses’, the pictures show England boss Sarina Wiegman and her staff putting the players through their paces ahead of the eagerly-anticipated contest.
Support: The Lionesses were wished good luck by the England women’s netball team ahead of the semi-final
England supporters gathered outside Sydney Opera House before the World Cup semi-final
England supporters descended on Sydney Opera House before the World Cup semi-final
England’s first appearance in a semi-final came eight years ago in Canada, when Laura Bassett’s own goal in second-half stoppage time abruptly halted their dreams of reaching the final.
The Lionesses won their third-place play-off for a best-ever World Cup finish to date, four years later coming fourth in France, where now-England boss Ms Wiegman led the Netherlands to the final but ultimately lost to defending champions the United States.
The Matildas are the only side who can boast they have beaten England since Wiegman – otherwise undefeated in 36 matches – took over in September 2021, with a 2-0 victory at Brentford in April.
While she, too, has found herself impressed by the growth she has observed in the ninth edition of the World Cup, expanded to 32 teams for the first time and guaranteed a new champion, that elusive trophy remains at the forefront of her mind.
Getting ready: England took part in a team training session at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford a day before their semi-final tie
Wiegman said: ‘I’m aware that this is very, very special and that what happens in the growth of the women’s game the level has really grown so worldwide people see what’s going on. I hope that helps women in football but women in general too.
‘But to be honest I’m very focused, so when it’s the game it’s the game, and you just try to block everything out because you have to do a job.’
Gustavsson believes his side are fully prepared to rise to the monumental occasion.
He said: ‘We actually don’t look at it as pressure. We look at it as a privilege that so many people believe in this team, and we feel the support.
‘We look at it more as fuel, as energy, than pressure. We don’t look at it as heavy. We look at it as we get carried from underneath and built up, and I feel the belief in us.’
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