Japan beats England 2-1, meets USA in Women’s World Cup final
Japan’s Rumi Utsugi and England’s Katie Chapman (16) vie or the ball during the second half of a semifinal in the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer tournament, Wednesday, July 1, 2015, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
EDMONTON, Canada–A late own-goal by England defender Laura Bassett put defending champions Japan into the final of the Women’s World Cup on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time) with a 2-1 win.
The tie looked to be heading for extra time with the scores locked at 1-1 after captain Aya Miyama scored a penalty on 33 minutes at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium only for Fara Williams to level for England five minutes before the break, also from a penalty kick.
But two minutes into injury time, Bassett send the ball into her own net to end her team’s dream run to their first World Cup semi-final.
Japan next plays the United States in the final at Vancouver next Sunday.
READ: US heads to Women’s World Cup final with 2-0 win over Germany
Two-time winners the United States beat Germany 2-0 in their semi-final in Montreal on Tuesday.
Sunday’s final will be a rematch of the 2011 final in Frankfurt, which Japan won 3-1 on penalties after the game finished 2-2 following extra-time.
The Americans went on to take Olympic gold in 2012 by beating Japan 2-1 in the final.
England now prepares to meet former two-time winners Germany in Saturday’s third-place playoff match in Edmonton.
