England boss Sarina Wiegman makes defiant Lauren James vow after Nigeria Women's World Cup win

But while James paid the price for her moment of madness, England were able to battle their way through.

Wiegman's side made the last eight of the competition following a dramatic penalty shootout.

Desire Oparanozie and Alozie both missed from 12 yards for Nigeria, with England converting four of their five penalties to go through.

And Wiegman, speaking after the game, addressed James' red card and insisted the youngster would learn from the experience.

“She’s young," she told talkSPORT. "This is just a split second and she doesn’t want to harm anyone.

"It’s later on in the game, so you get a little bit tired too.

“It’s such an intense and emotional game that in a split second where you just don’t control your emotions, then things happen.

“Of course, she didn’t want to do that, but before she’d even realised it had happened.

"Very unfortunate. She will absolutely learn from it.”

Wiegman also insisted England didn't underestimate Nigeria, having previously warned her players about the need to avoid complacency.

“We didn’t expect it to be easy. I give a lot of credit to Nigeria. I don’t think I have ever been in such an intense game.

“It was very intense and competitive.

“Women’s football has changed forever and we don’t expect any game to be easy. We have a couple of days to rest and figure out how we are going to approach it.”

As for Kelly, the England star was thrilled after helping her side to victory.

The Manchester City star said: "It's amazing, anything that's thrown at us we show what we're capable of.

"We dig deep as a group and we believe in our ability. We believe in what we're told to do. We've been practicing a lot and it's working.

"[Before the penalty] For me I'm thinking going to score, once I win that mental battle I'm good.

"It's the team, this team is special.

"We did it in the Euros, we did it in the Finalissima, we keep pushing forward and there's more to come from this team."

Former England players also reacted to the win.

Ellen White hailed the way they managed to cling on, lauding the European champions for their fighting spirit.

"It just shows their resilience," she said. "The pressure moments the team come together. They have that composure."

And ex-England star Karen Bardsley said: "Honestly I feel like no one is more relieved in the stadium than I am right now!

"What a game from Nigeria, played so well."

England will now face either Colombia or Jamaica in the last eight.