After defeating Nigeria 4-2 in the penalty shootout, England reaches the quarter finals. For the time being, only the fact that England advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals will matter. On a night when not much went as planned, four of its five penalty attempts were successful compared to two of Nigeria's. The other, more significant queries may wait till tomorrow. After a brief pause when Georgia Stanway missed the first penalty kick attempt in the shootout, England quickly secured its victory. Beth England, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood, and Chloe Kelly all made timely kicks, and Nigeria, which missed two of its four attempts, was defeated.

After Lauren James was dismissed for a petulant stamp on Nigerian player Michelle Alozie's back, which put the European champions under extreme strain, the Lionesses were forced to play the remainder of regulation time with just 10 players.

Desire Oparanozie and Alozie both missed their opening two penalty shots for Nigeria. Following Georgia Stanway's missed opportunity to give England the lead in the first penalty of the shoot-out, Bethany England and Rachel Daly gave the Lionesses the advantage.

Chloe Kelly was England's hero once more as she scored the game-winning kick after Alex Greenwood maintained her composure to convert and give the Lionesses a penalty.

The victory maintains England's chances of winning the World Cup, but this will be remembered as a close call.

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