England are through to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup semifinals after beating Colombia 2-1 on Saturday night at Stadium Australia in Sydney Olympic Park in front of over 75,000 fans in attendance.

Leicy Santos scored the goal for Colombia while the Lionesses responded with goals from Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo to complete the comeback.

" I try to work as hard as I can", Russo said in her post-match press conference after winning player of the match. " There is luck in football and I am glad I took my shot when it came and it went right into the back of the net."

Colombia who was playing in their first-ever World Cup quarterfinal played in front of a home crowd that rocked the stadium every time they touched the ball.

" I am very happy", Sarina Weigman said in her opening answer at her post-game press conference. " We get to stay here for another week and to reach a semifinal is very special."

I had the opportunity to ask Weigman how pleased she was for her team to come back from that deficit and what she thought of her Colombian opponents.

" They scored the goal when we had more possession and we created our chances and they scored and how we bounced back was really good and we were alert which was good and that helped change the game."

" In regards to Colombia, I think they had a very good tournament and they were really dangerous with the counterattack and we gave them the opportunity and that gave us some challenges."

Chloe Kelly was very cognisant and spoke about the difficulty of playing a tough physical Colombian side.

" I think that is a great test for us", Kelly said in the mixed zone to the media in attendance. " Tonight it felt like we were the away side but it was amazing."

She was asked about what she was told by her coach Wiegman in regard to playing in front of a very loud fanbase that was cheering against her.

" I think it's about managing it and playing football and being able to play off the ball and keep out the noise and I enjoyed it and we will be ready for the next match."

I was able to ask Bethany England about what she thought of Colombia and she gave them a lot of credit.

" I think they gave us a tough challenge", England said. " We knew what to expect and they looked dangerous on the counter-attack and when they had the ball they did well and were not happy to go down 1-0 but we stayed calm and resilient and happy to come back from that."

The Colombians came out firing and in the third minute of the game had the first scoring opportunity of the match when Maria Usme was able to get a shot on target from distance and English keeper Mary Earps made her first save.

Eight minutes later Alessia Russo managed to get a header on target for England's first scoring chance but it went right into the chest of Colombian keeper Catalina Perez.

In the 27th minute, it was Rachel Daly with another header on target but was denied by Perez. Colombia opened the scoring in the 44th minute just before halftime when Linda Caicedo made a quick pass to Leicy Santos who was able to lob the ball over the head of Earps and into the back of the net.

The stadium erupted and for a minute it looked as if Colombia was going to pull off the upset of the ages. Six minutes were added to the first half and in the last minute, Lauren Hemp tied it for England when she was able to pick up a loose rebound off a shot from Russo and put it into the back of the net.

England continued on the front foot in the second half and in the 52nd minute Daly was able to get her second header of the match on target but again was stopped by Perez.

Seven minutes later England earned a free kick but the cross was punched away out of danger by Perez who was doing everything not to concede another goal.

The Lionesses took the lead in the 63rd minute when Russo got an amazing through pass from Georgia Stanway and was able to beat Perez with a shot that went far post.

Unfortunately, that was the last action Perez was involved in as she was subbed out after conceding the goal due to a vision issue and was replaced by Natalia Giraldo.

Colombia pushed for the equalizer but England did a good job defensively holding them off. In the 71st minute, Lorena Durango took another shot from distance which forced Earps to jump and deflect the ball over the crossbar.

Santos had one last chance in the 87th minute but was denied by Earps and England hung on to secure the win and a spot in the World Cup semifinals.

They will next face the hosts Australia on Wednesday in Sydney after The Matildas beat France in Brisbane requiring penalty kicks to send them through.