England edge out Nigeria in penalty shootout in FIFA women’s World Cup

A fancied England just managed to scrape through to the quarter finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup with a 4-2 win over a spirited Nigeria in the penalty shootout.

Earlier the defending champions the USA were stunned in a shootout defeat by Sweden, blowing the Women's World Cup wide open.

That result put the Lionesses right up there as one of the heavy favourites to go all the way. Therefore, few would have imagined the excruciating experience that was to come in Brisbane against a Nigeria side who had the odds to reach the knockout round.

England came agonisingly close to following the USA but clung on to their World Cup dreams by the skin of their teeth, doing what some of their rivals could not and managing to find a way - even if it did involve penalties.

England failed to produce a game its fans had turned up to see and were time and again found wanting in tackling the Nigerian forwards.

The England coach had warned her players against being complacent and defender Alex Greenwood had made it clear in a media conference they would ignore any external noise.

Nigeria, aiming to become the first African team to win a knockout match at the Women's World Cup, were certainly no easy opponents.

The nine-time African champions had beaten co-hosts Australia and finished above Olympic gold medallists Canada in the group stages. They were here for a giant-killing and almost succeeded.

England were lacklustre and predictable, struggling to create chances and growing frustrated as each minute passed, feeling as if they were repeating the same things to no avail.

They had been there before against Haiti and Denmark, but this time it was even more noticeable given how much of a drop-off in performance it was from the one that sliced open China.