We look ahead to this 2023 Women’s World Cup quarter-final clash at Stadium Australia with our England vs Colombia preview and prediction.
England vs Colombia Stats: Quick Hits
- The Opta supercomputer is backing England to make it through to the semi-finals, giving the Lionesses a 63.9% chance of winning in 90 minutes.
- Only one player has had more goal involvements than England’s Lauren James at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but she will be missing through suspension.
- This is Colombia’s first ever Women’s World Cup quarter-final, while Brazil are the only South American team to ever make the semis.
Match Preview
England find themselves in the last eight of the FIFA Women’s World Cup despite arguably only putting in one good performance so far. It has been enough though, even if they had to rely on penalties to get past Nigeria in the round of 16.
They will of course be without one the stars of the tournament in Lauren James though after her red card for stamping on Michelle Alozie in the last round, and her two-game ban will keep her out until the final – if England make it that far. It is undoubtedly a blow, with only France’s Kadidiatou Diani (4 goals, 3 assists) having been involved in more goals than James (3 goals, 3 assists) at this year’s tournament.
Sarina Wiegman’s side come up against Colombia next, who have reached the quarter-final of the Women’s World Cup for the first time and will become just the second South American side to reach the final four if they can win this one, after Brazil in 1999 and 2007.
In fact, 75% of Colombia’s overall wins at the Women’s World Cup have come this year. Before this tournament, they had won just one of their seven games in the competition (2011 and 2015 – D2 L4).
Catalina Usme scored the winning goal against Jamaica in the last 16, making her the outright top goalscorer for Colombia in Women’s World Cup history with three. Usme has attempted (66) and completed (38) more passes ending in the final third than any other Colombian player in the competition this year, so is likely to be a danger England will have to look out for.
Without James’ influence, the Lionesses will also need to figure out a route to goal. England’s failure to score against Nigeria ended their record run of 16 games with at least one goal in the Women’s World Cup. However, they have never failed to score in consecutive games in the competition.
It should be a stylistically interesting contest. England have had 71 separate sequences of 10+ passes at this year’s WWC, more than any other side prior to the quarter-finals; whereas Colombia’s total of seven such sequences is the lowest of the remaining sides in the competition, despite having more possession than their opponents in three of their four games so far.
England vs Colombia Head-to-Head
This will be just the second time these two have faced each other, with the previous meeting also occurring at the Women’s World Cup eight years ago.
England won that Group F clash in June 2015, beating Colombia 2-1 in Montreal thanks to a Karen Carney opener and a penalty from Fara Williams, with Lady Andrade pulling one back in second-half stoppage time.
England vs Colombia Prediction
England have been made heavy favourites by the Opta supercomputer, given a 63.9% chance of winning in normal time. That said, they were given a 70.9% likelihood of doing the same against Nigeria in the last round and that ended up being a much tougher game than many anticipated.
Colombia are handed a 13.7% possibility of winning in 90 minutes, while another bout of extra-time for England has a 22.4% chance of happening.
England vs Colombia Squads
England: Mary Earps, Lucy Bronze, Niamh Charles, Keira Walsh, Alex Greenwood, Millie Bright, Lauren James, Georgia Stanway, Rachel Daly, Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp, Jordan Nobbs, Hannah Hampton, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Esme Morgan, Jess Carter, Laura Coombs, Chloe Kelly, Bethany England, Katie Zelem, Ellie Roebuck, Katie Robinson, Alessia Russo.
Colombia: Catalina Pérez, Sandra Sepúlveda, Natalia Giraldo, Ana Maria Guzmán, Ángela Barón, Carolina Arias, Daniela Árias, Daniela Caracas, Jorelyn Carabalí, Manuela Vanegas, Mónica Ramos, Catalina Usme, Daniela Montoya, Diana Ospina, Lady Andrade, Leicy Santos, Lorena Bedoya, Maria Camila Reyes, Elexa Bahr, Ivonne Chacón, Linda Caicedo, Marcela Restrepo, Mayra Ramírez.
Enjoy this? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive exclusive weekly content. And follow us on Twitter too.