England's Lauren James lost her head at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and was shown a red card for needlessly stamping on Nigeria's Michelle Alozie, as the two sides clashed in the Round of 16.

James had shone for England throughout the tournament, having found the back of the net on three occasions and registered three assists too. That included scoring twice against China and a hat-trick of assists on top of that in their final group game.

Her excellent performances had personified how dominant the Lionesses had been at the World Cup thus far. But they faced a much sterner test against Nigeria in the knockout rounds. The Super Falcons had not lost at the tournament, picking up draws against Ireland and Canada, as well as an impressive 3-2 win against Australia.

James' moment of madness against Nigeria

England came into the game looking to make it four wins from four games, but found themselves frustrated by their opponents on the night.

Both sides came close to opening the scoring. Nigeria's Ashleigh Plumptre struck the bar with a spectacular effort, before Mary Earps made a great save to keep a second effort from Plumptre out. At the other end, goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie made a superb stop to deny Alessia Russo.

England were then nearly gifted a golden opportunity to open the scoring when the referee pointed to the spot after Rachel Daly went down inside the box. However, after a VAR intervention, that decision was subsequently overturned.

Nigeria then hit the woodwork again in the second half, with Uchenna Kanu seeing her header hit the top of the bar. And Nnadozie kept her side in it late in the game, diving to her right to keep out a Daly header.

After that though, England were dealt a massive blow.

James, who started the match, became increasingly frustrated as the game went on. She failed to register a shot on target during the match, and also completed just three of her seven dribbles.

Her frustration built as the game went on and the score remained goalless. And that irritation got the better of her 86 minutes into the game, with James treading on the back of Nigeria’s Alozie after the pair took a tumble.

She was initially shown a yellow card for the offence, but then the referee was told to take a closer look at the incident by VAR. After further inspection, the foul was upgraded from yellow to red, with England without their top scorer at the tournament for the remainder of the game.

You can watch the incident for yourselves below.

Watch: James is sent off for England for needless stamp

England scrape through on penalties

Despite England being a player down as the game went to extra time, the score remained goalless, with neither side able to find a way through. The Lionesses clung on to stay in the match as the tie went to penalties.

It looked as if things might have been going against them though when Georgia Stanway sent the first spot kick wide. But England were handed a reprieve when Desire Oparanozie missed Nigeria's first spot kick.

After Beth England buried her penalty, the Super Falcons would miss again, with Alozie smashing the ball over the bar. Although Rasheedat Ajibade and Christy Ucheibe both then scored for Nigeria, Daly, Alex Greenwood, and Chloe Kelly all converted for England, meaning that they won the shootout 4-2 and advanced to the quarter-finals.

England will now face the winner of Colombia and Jamaica's tie in the last eight on Saturday 12 August.