US veteran Megan Rapinoe said the upcoming Women's World Cup feels like a "paradigm shift" in the global business of women's...

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After Sarina Wiegman finished her press conference following the victory over Colombia on Saturday, she was so struck by the number of questions about England’s historic sporting rivalry with Australia that she immediately started asking staff members about the extent of it. The Dutch coach quickly realised she had underestimated how much this meant. Those at the England camp duly filled her in, although, as one staff member laughed, “it’s not like we showed her old clips of the Ashes”. They maybe didn’t need to. A trip to the shop beside England’s otherwise tranquil Terrigal base would have shown how intense it’s all getting, as the front page of The Western Australian - the newspaper that covers Sam Kerr’s home city of Perth- read, “And you thought the Ashes was big!” It is everywhere in the build-up to the game, where the widespread sentiment articulated by the Sydney Morning Herald is, “Now for the Poms”. All of this really shows just how much this Women’s World Cup has captured Australia, with Wednesday’s semi-final set to break all kinds of audience records. And yet, as much as even supporters who previously dismissed “soccer” are now looking forward to this match and trying to get tickets, this still feels like the game this tournament has been waiting for; a deserved crescendo, an event with real cut-through. That applies to England as much as Australia. In terms of pure narrative drama, it has so far almost been the ideal World Cup. The tournament has offered shocks, unpredictability, memorable moments, storylines and - eventually - a high-class semi-final line-up; the real elite separated from those extending themselves. One of those games will involve a rivalry that is among the oldest and most intense in sport, an alluring element that transcends whatever the event is. That event is meanwhile taking place around midday on Wednesday in the United Kingdom, which is almost perfect for passing viewers during the school holidays. Even if England and Australia have not met enough for there to be a true football rivalry - although there is already talk from within the camps that is changing - the point is about something much bigger than any sport now being transposed onto a new sport. This is going to be huge, to go with the stakes. England are a mere match away from the greatest stage in football. So, however, are Australia. The words “Til it’s done”, featuring an abbreviation of Matildas in vintage national style, are now everywhere on social media. Such has been the nationwide surge of enthusiasm that this game could be put on at any time and the country would still stop. “We can see there are a lot of people excited about this game,” Australia manager Tony Gustavsson said, before beckoning to the packed press conference. “Just look at this room here!” All of this is of course noise the players themselves have sought to turn down, and need to shut out. There have been the usual lines about how it’s “just another game”. Even Wiegman went from asking questions to insisting "we don't feel the rivalry that much". The noise is sort of the point, though. It can’t be said that all of this is irrelevant because it will charge the atmosphere around Stadium Australia, bringing this beyond the electricity of a home semi-final. This is where there’s a dynamic that only further fires this game, that adds to the tension. There may not be too much difference between the sides, but it doesn’t feel like they are quite going in on level terms. Australia are at home. Their campaigns have been too different. With England, it has almost flipped. After five successive games conditioned by the suspense of an embarrassing early exit, they are now the team that might undo something bigger - that might “spoil the party”. England have similarly achieved the minimum target of getting to the semi-finals. That might have been a battle, but it could now release them to go for the maximum. There was a sense of a team coming together in some of their best spells of football against Colombia. Georgia Stanway was knitting everything together, taking more responsibility. Australia have come together in a completely different way. Whereas England have ground their way through, gradually solving problem after problem, Gustavsson’s side have been on the rollercoaster that fits the way this World Cup has emotionally seized the country. If the manner of that penalty shoot-out win involved a lot of nerves and doubt, it also served to fortify belief. “I remember coming into the changing rooms after the France game and Sam came in and said ‘I think this is the time now when we can really believe we can go all the way’,” Mackenzie Arnold said of her celebrated teammate on the eve of the England game. It is that sense of resolve that Wiegman’s side have repeatedly enjoyed, and developed with. Those two different paths to the semi-final also bring multiple perspectives on this semi-final. One view of England is that they have fought their way through problem after problem, to the point they can now get through anything. Another view is that letting games become such battles is an indication you might run into real trouble when you face a truly elite side. But are Australia playing like that? The quarter-final against France threw up other concerns. That is the nature of a tournament, mind. They are usually about game-management and forcing your way through. Wiegman has developed that quality in England, especially through a cast-iron defence so well marshalled by Millie Bright. Should Kerr start, as many of the murmurs around the Australia camp are increasingly indicating, she may find the central area she most enjoys is completely covered. On the other side, it will be the first time England’s backline faces a forward who uses space and the ball in the unique way Kerr does. That is of course if she is even fit enough. "Australia is not just Sam Kerr," Wiegman said. "Yes we have a plan but she could start or be on the bench." Those questions persist, but so does this World Cup’s wait for its great star's first big moment. Alessia Russo has finally had hers. England’s forwards might have found something like form at the right time. It’s certainly the right game. Nobody would make the mistake of saying it’s the “real final” but it may well end up the World Cup’s biggest fixture. It’s an old rivalry on a new stage, with new stakes. Neither of these sides have been to a World Cup final before. There can surely be no better game to get there. It's a game the tournament has waited for. It's the moment the teams have waited for. Read More How to watch England vs Australia: TV channel and kick-off time for Women’s World Cup semi-final Australia is having a moment — will Sam Kerr finally get hers against England? The Lionesses will need to beat an entire nation in the grip of World Cup fever Olga Carmona fires Spain into first Women’s World Cup final amid late drama Women’s World Cup LIVE: England vs Australia build-up as Spain reach final How Georgia Stanway found World Cup ‘discipline’ thanks to surprise mentor

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Everton ended a difficult week on a positive note as Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired them to a 1-0 win at West Ham. The Toffees were playing their first match since the death of chairman Bill Kenwright on Monday at the age of 78. It had been emotional week, too, for Hammers manager David Moyes, who formed a close friendship with Kenwright during his 11-year spell in charge at Goodison Park. But while West Ham slumped to a third defeat in eight days following reverses at Aston Villa and in the Europa League at Olympiacos, Everton were able to put some more breathing space between themselves and the bottom three with a second away win of the season. Calvert-Lewin’s goal was his 50th in the Premier League for Everton, joining Romelu Lukaku, Duncan Ferguson and Tim Cahill in reaching the half-century. It came six minutes into the second half after a first half that will not live long in the memory. West Ham created an early opportunity when Lucas Paqueta skilfully lifted the ball over Nathan Patterson and drilled in a low cross which Jarrod Bowen could only slice wide. Moments later Paqueta showed the side of his game which so infuriates Moyes, gifting the ball to Jack Harrison who burst through only to fire too close to Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola. Ghana winger Mohammed Kudus, making first Premier League start for West Ham, showed he is already getting used to the darker arts of English football after he was chopped down by James Tarkowski. As Jordan Pickford raced out of his goal to tell the youngster to get up, Kudus shoved the England keeper away in a skirmish which earned both a booking. Calvert-Lewin had his first chance from Vitalii Mykolenko’s cross but the striker headed over. A torturous half was summed up by the audible sigh which echoed around the London Stadium when five minutes of stoppage time was announced. The game desperately needed a goal and it almost came through Bowen, who got on the end of a James Ward-Prowse free-kick but guided his header too high. Instead the goal arrived at the other end after Jarrad Branthwaite won the ball back for Everton in midfield and fed Calvert-Lewin. The former England forward played a one-two with Harrison before executing a Cruyff turn which left both Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd flat-footed and firing low past Areola. It was Calvert-Lewin’s sixth goal in all competitions against the Hammers, the most he has scored against one single club. Everton almost doubled the lead when Zouma and Aguerd got in another tangle but Areola got down well to tip Aboulaye Doucoure’s shot wide. The closest West Ham came to an equaliser was a Said Benrahma volley which Pickford kept out at his near post to secure the points. Read More Manchester United v Man City LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Aston Villa vs Luton Town LIVE: Latest Premier League updates West Ham vs Everton LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Manchester United v Man City LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Aston Villa vs Luton Town LIVE: Latest Premier League updates West Ham vs Everton LIVE: Latest Premier League updates

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