Ella Toone describes 'best shot of her life' in World Cup semi-final

Putting England 1-0 in front against Australia on Wednesday, August 16, Ella Toone's goal was a pivotal moment that helped the Lionesses progress to the World Cup final against Spain.

With Lauren James set to return to the squad following a two-game suspension, Toone's place might be at risk but the Manchester United midfielder could not have done any more to impress head coach Sarina Wiegman with her thunderous strike in Sydney.

READ > 'No surprise' that role model Ella is in a World Cup final - says former teacher

Ella's thunderous strike against Australia helped England progress to the World Cup final (Image: PA)

Speaking about her goal to the PA news agency, Ella said: "“It fell straight to me in the box and I just thought ‘why not just smack it?’

"Honestly, that’s the best shot I’ve hit in my life.

“Sometimes when you hit a ball, you just know I’ve caught that perfectly and I was like ‘wow, that was alright’.

"I think I knew as soon as it left my boot that it was going to end up in the back of the net.

Ella's equaliser against Germany helped the Lionesses to victory at last summer's Euros (Image: -)

Ella, whose pivotal equaliser in last summer's Euros final helped the Lionesses to victory, is the first England player, male or female, to score in a quarter-final, semi-final, and final of a major football tournament.

The former Fred Longworth student added: "“It seems to be I like the big stage in tournaments, but in tournament football it is often about taking those moments and it was my turn to do so tonight.

“I had my moment, it fell to me and I put it in the back of the net. Even if I hadn’t scored, I would still have done my job for this team, worked hard and did what I needed to do.

“When big moments fall to me in tournaments, I’ve taken them.”