World Cup: can England’s women go further than the men?

In the sweltering heat of Canada’s Landsdowne Stadium, it wasn’t looking good for England’s women’s team as Norway’s Solveig Gulbrandsen got her head to a corner at the near post and flicked the ball in off the bar to give her team the lead in the 54th minute.

England, who lost their group opener to France but have now won three games in a row, equalised from a corner in the 61st minute when captain Steph Houghton outmuscled two defenders to score with a fine header of her own.

Defender Lucy Bronze then blasted in the winner in the 76th minute to book England’s historic spot in the quarterfinals.

England’s victory in Ottawa is the first time the team have won a knockout match in the competition. Now they face hosts Canada in the last eight. We look at who they are, how they have fared so far and what they are up against.

The tournament so far

France 1 England 0

England’s first World Cup game of the 2015 campaign started off with disappointment as they lost 1-0 to France. France had Eugenie Le Sommers to thank for a stunning first-half strike, which gave them the lead and the well-deserved three points.

England 2 Mexico 1

The Three Lionesses belatedly kick-started their 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup campaign with three points they desperately needed. England controlled most of the game, especially in the opening half, but it was not until the final 20 minutes that all the hard work paid off with goals from Karen Carney and Fran Kirby, one of the team’s youngest players.

England 2 Colombia 1

This was the most important game for the Three Lionesses as a win against Colombia would seal progression in the tournament. England secured victory with two first-half goals from Karen Carney and Fara Williams, setting up the match up against Norway.

Goal-scoring Lionesses

Lucy Bronze

Twenty-three-year-old flexible right back (plays anywhere in defence or midfield). She scored the second goal against Norway, making history by winning the England women’s first knockout game at a World Cup.

Northumberland-born Bronze joined Manchester City in November 2014 from Liverpool Ladies. In April 2014 she won the PFA women players’ player of the year award.

Fran Kirby

Twenty-one-year-old forward. Her first World Cup in the senior team saw her become the first English goal scorer at the 2015 Women’s World Cup against Mexico.

Kirby has had a turbulent relationship with football. She has spoken publicly about her struggles with depression, which led to her quitting the game because of illness around the time of the last World Cup, but she made a comeback with Reading Town Ladies.

Karen Carney

The 27-seven-year-old midfielder has scored twice for England in this World Cup, first in the England v Mexico game, then against Colombia.

Carney started her career at Birmingham City LFC at the age of 14, and after stints at Arsenal and then Chicago Red Stars, is back playing for her home team.

She has made more than 100 appearances for England and competed with Team GB at London 2012.

Fara Williams

Midfielder Williams, 31, joined Liverpool Ladies from Everton Ladies, who she represented for eight years. She is England’s most capped ever player, with over 100 appearances, and is considered one of the finest midfielders in the world.

She has won the FA Cup, three league titles, FA Players’ player of the year and FA young player of the year awards. As well as playing for the national team, she is employed by the FA as a skills coach.

Williams has spoken about her struggles in early life: she was homeless during much of her early career, celebrating her 18th and 21st birthdays in hostels. She also coaches homeless girls and women.

How will they fare against Canada?

As it stands Canada are placed eighth in the Fifa Women’s World Cup official ranking (two places below England). They topped their group, winning their games against China and Switzerland and drawing the Netherland and New Zealand games.

They go into the tournament with home advantage as the host team, and have legend Christine Sinclair as team captain. She has chalked up an impressive 154 international goals in 227 appearances. But with England’s turnaround last night against Norway, perhaps the Lionesses can pull victory out of the bag.