England and Chelsea FC forward Lauren James might have made her last FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup appearance in her team’s win (on penalties) v Nigeria on Monday August.
England and Chelsea FC forward Lauren James might have made her last FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup appearance in her team’s win (on penalties) v Nigeria on Monday August 7 which saw them reach the quarter-final.
FIFA has announced that James received a two-match suspension. This implies that she will be absent not only for England’s quarter-final clash with Colombia this upcoming Saturday but also for the subsequent semi-final against either Australia or France.
Sarina Wiegman’s England will therefore have the option to deploy James solely in the final or the third-place playoff, provided they advance to either of these matches.
Should Colombia win on Saturday at Stadium Australia in Sydney and resulting in England’s elimination, James will bid farewell to the World’s biggest women’s football tournament with three goals and three assists in four matches.
The match was still goalless and the two teams were approaching extra time. The 21-year-old Lionesses prospect purposely stepped on Nigeria’s defender Michelle Alozie.
James was first shown the yellow card, but after a VAR check, the Argentinian referee Melissa Borjas changed the card’s color from yellow to red for violent conduct and therefore sending James off and ruling her out of the quarter-final against Catalina Usme’s Colombia.
