England through to the semi-final after incredible shoot-out | OneFootball

England are into the semi-final despite being 2-0 down at half-time after a drama-filled penalty shoot-out win over Sweden.

Sweden haven't had the best of times against England in major tournaments in recent times but they must have thought they were going to break that duck after the first 45 minutes.

Indeed, inside the first two minutes the Swedes were ahead when Stina Blackstenius fed Kosovare Asllani to finish.

After setting one up, Blackstenius scored the second with Julia Zigiotti this time making the assist.

It was a dire first half from England and they had to improve in the second. Fortunately for Sarina Wiegman's side, they did.

The Lionesses had to wait until the 79th minute to pull one back and they were level by the 81st minute thanks to Chloe Kelly's instant impact on the bench.

England's first came directly from Kelly's cross on the left that found Lucy Bronze at the far post to reduce the deficit.

A Kelly cross then led to two other substitutes combining; Beth Mead brought the ball down while teenager Michelle Agyemang provided the finishing touch.

The game went into extra time and Sweden managed to lift their heads. Indeed, England looked panicked from set pieces while Leah Williamson was forced off  through injury, Hannah Hampton ended up with a bloody nose, and Lucy Bronze was seen applying her own strapping to her thigh.

But after 120 minutes players just needed to provide one more quick.

What followed was an incredible shoot-out with goalkeepers taking full advantage of some tired efforts.

Sweden goalkeeper made three saves to deny England and stepped up to take her side's fifth which would win the game. But the shot stopper skied her effort to keep the Lionesses in it.

Grace Clinton took the first sudden death penalty that went wide but Hampton made a vital stop to deny Sofia Jakobsson.

Then it was Bronze's turn and she made no mistake, lashing an effort down the middle. Such an emphatic penalty after so many poor attempts seemed to shift the mood with Smilla Holmberg firing over to mean that England will meet Italy in Geneva on Tuesday.