England are known for reaching semis – Bronze

Reaching semi-finals of major tournaments is what England “are known for”, says defender Lucy Bronze.

The Lionesses will compete in their third successive Women’s World Cup semi-final on Wednesday against co-hosts Australia, having beaten Colombia 2-1 in the last eight.

Bronze, 31, has played a key role in reaching all three, having had a breakout tournament in 2015.

“People said England were the team that were going to flop,” said Bronze.

“If we hadn’t have got to the semi-finals, I would have said we would have underperformed. Our performances haven’t been our best, granted, but the results have been there.

“We’ve got to the semi-final, which is what this England team is known for doing.”

As well as reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 2015, 2019 and now 2023, England also made it to the last four of Euro 2017 and Euro 2022, which they went on to win on home soil.

They are yet to lift the Women’s World Cup but are current favourites with the United States, winners in 2015 and 2019, and European giants Germany knocked out early. Meanwhile, Australia have reached the semi-finals for the first time and will have home advantage in Sydney when the teams meet on Wednesday.

“We got past the hurdle last year in the Euros and finally made it to the final,” added Bronze. “We got past that dreaded [feeling of] always being beat in the semi-finals so we’ve got that in the locker.

“Many players in the squad were part of that so we know how difficult it is to get this far and also how to get to the final and to win games. BBC

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