England snatches 2-1 victory over Colombia and reaches the knockout stage

England reached the knock out stage of the Women's World Cup after defeating Colombia 2-1 here on Wednesday. Colombia also reached the round of 16 as one of the third-best teams.

Karen Carney broke the deadlock in the 15th minute. Steph Houghton's free-kick was parried by goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda but only into the path of Carney, who tucked away the rebound.

And a Fara Williams penalty in the 38th minute locked the victory and the progress for the Three Lions.

Colombia's Lady Andrade pulled one back before the final whistle, as her lob passed over England Keeper's reach after receiving a long pass from teammate.

"We're very happy to have won and to have qualified for the next round. We've shown that we are a versatile team, applying various systems and giving lots of different squad members some playing time," England coach Mark Sampson said on the post-match media conference.

"My players have demonstrated that they are mentally very strong and ready for bigger challenges. Our set-pieces have been very good, and that's an important asset in really tight games," he added. Endi