Women’s World Cup: England ends Norway’s run

Puts on a masterclass to beat Norway

Ecstatic: England’s Lucy Bronze celebrates after scoring against Norway.

A stunning strike by Lucy Bronze helped England to a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Norway on Thursday as Phil Neville’s team eased into the last four of the women’s World Cup.

David Beckham was among the crowd of to see midfield stalwart Jill Scott open the scoring inside three minutes, becoming just the second English player to score at three separate women’s World Cups.

Rising shot

Ellen White then grabbed her fifth goal of the tournament five minutes prior to half-time and Bronze made sure of the victory with a rising shot high into the net as the hour mark approached.

England was so comfortable towards the end that it could even afford to squander a penalty, with Nikita Parris having her late spot-kick saved.

Norway had declared ambitions of leaving France with a medal to show for its effort, but after ousting Australia on penalties in the last round, this was a step too far for it.

It is impossible not to wonder how different things might have been in this game had the class of Ada Hegerberg been available to Martin Sjogren’s team.

The result: Norway 0 lost to England 3 (Scott 3, White 40, Bronze 57) .