England out to quell Matildas mania in Women's World Cup semi-final

Tournament co-hosts Australia will be banking on the huge home support and Sam Kerr starting when they take on European champions England in the second of the Women's World Cup semi-finals.

Sydney's Accor Stadium Australia is sure to be a cauldron of sorts as the numbers getting behind the Matildas continues to grow. With a win over England, Australia can advance to the final and try to become the only team other than the United States to claim the Women’s World Cup on home soil.

Spain have already booked their place in Sunday's decider after edging Sweden in a contest which burst into life in the last ten minutes. Olga Carmona's stunning late winner settled what was a cagey tie for the most part. Will we have a similar caginess on Wednesday? If so, it would be in contrast to some of the utterances coming from both camps.

Australia vice-captain Steph Catley has said her team was "just primed for this moment".

"We’ve got a perfect little balance of a core group that understand the gravity of the situations and a small group of younger players who might not understand the gravity, which is kind of bliss," she told reporters.

Lauren Hemp, who scored England's equaliser against Colombia, said: "Australia, bring it on. It’s going to be a packed stadium with so many Australian fans, but we know if we play at our best we are unstoppable."

We need your consent to load this comcast-player content We use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences

Watch how Australia prevailed after a marathon penalty shootout against France

As is often the way in tournament football, it's a