Vivianne Miedema and Stefanie van der Gragt headed the Netherlands to a 2-0 win over Italy and into the Women's World Cup semi-finals for the first time on Saturday.

Arsenal forward Miedema and defender Van der Gragt nodded in a pair of Sherida Spitse free-kicks in the space of 10 second-half minutes to break the stubborn Azzurre resistance.

The second strike extended Netherlands' tournament-high haul of headed goals to five and confirmed their passage into the final four, where they will face either Germany or Sweden.

Clear-cut chances had been rare throughout a match played in stifling heat in Valenciennes but Sarina Wiegman's side established control after half-time and were worthy winners in the end.

Netherlands were given an early reprieve when Valentina Bergamaschi spooned a tame finish into Sari van Veenendaal's gloves following Barbara Bonansea's flick-on header.

Bergamaschi scuffed a second shooting chance two minutes later as European champions Netherlands struggled to make use of their possession.

The first cooling break brought little disruption to the nature of proceedings, Valentina Giacinti firing wide off her left foot in the moments that followed.

Lieke Martens, who overcame a foot problem to start for the Oranje, tested Laura Giuliani with a well-taken volley in the 50th minute.

That effort marked the start of a better period for Netherlands that saw Danielle van de Donk hit the crossbar with a classy curling effort from beyond the box, before Spitse arrowed a low free-kick against the outside of the left post.

The latter instead turned provider as the breakthrough eventually came 20 minutes from full-time.

Spitse delivered an inviting free-kick from the left and Miedema guided a glancing header beyond the outstretched Giuliani, with the sealer from Van der Gragt following in similar circumstances 10 minutes later as Italy's impressive run came to an end.


 

Key Opta Facts

- Italy have never beaten European opposition at the Women's World Cup, drawing once and losing three. Indeed, two of those of losses have been quarter-final clashes (v Netherlands in 2019 and Norway in 1991).
- Eight of Netherlands' 10 goals at the 2019 Women's World Cup have arrived in the second half; only USA (13) have netted more in the second half.
- Vivianne Miedema has now scored 61 goals in just 80 appearances for Netherlands – no Dutch woman has netted more in WWC history (three – level with Lieke Martens).
- Sherida Spitse has provided more assists than any other Netherlands player in Women's World Cup history (four), with all four of them coming via set-pieces.