BRISBANE — England have been left sweating on whether Lauren James’ tournament is over in the aftermath of her red card in their last-16 World Cup win over Nigeria.
The 21-year-old was sent off in the 87th minute following a VAR review, having initially only been shown a yellow for stepping on Michelle Alozie’s back.
James will automatically earn a one-match suspension but the incident will be subject to a Fifa review and the ban could be extended up to three matches if it is deemed violent conduct.
That would mean missing the rest of the World Cup even if England were to go all the way to the final in Sydney. It is understood the decision could come as early as Tuesday.
After her dismissal, the Lionesses had to see out extra time with 10 players before going on to win on penalties. Georgia Stanway missed the first spot-kick before Beth England, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly converted the other four.
Though Nigeria were unable to capitalise on James’ absence, the forward’s moment of madness could still prove costly for England.
James’ breakthrough had been the feel-good story of the Lionesses’ World Cup so far. Sarina Wiegman did not start her in the opener against Haiti, but she went on to score the winning goal in the 1-0 victory over Denmark and produced a further two goals and three assists as England ran riot with a 6-1 win against China.
One headache had just eased for Sarina Wiegman amid the return of Keira Walsh.
The midfielder recovered from her knee injury much sooner than expected and England stuck with the 3-5-2 formation that had proven so successful against China – but Wiegman will have to rejig personnel once again to accommodate James’ loss.
“Very hard, this was a moment, it was a split second, it was later in the game, so players also get a little tired,” Wiegman said.
“She’s an inexperienced player on this stage, and she’s done really well, and I think in a split second she just lost her emotions… it’s a huge lesson to learn but of course it’s not something she’s done on purpose.”
At the very least, James will have to sit out England’s quarter-final. They will play Colombia or Jamaica in the last eight and if her ban is not increased, she could return if the European champions make it to the semi-finals, where they would face one of Australia, France or Morocco.
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