England defender Lucy Bronze has said Lauren James “feels bad” after being sent off in the Lionesses’ game on Monday.

Bronze said she made a point of consoling an “upset” Lauren James after she was shown what could be a World Cup-ending red card in the last 16 match against Nigeria.

The forward will miss at least the quarter-final match against Colombia on Saturday, August 12 after being sent off for deliberately standing on Nigeria defender Michelle Alozie.

This tournament is the first Women’s World Cup James has played in.

The Northern Echo: Lauren James was sent off for standing on Nigeria defender Michelle AlozieLauren James was sent off for standing on Nigeria defender Michelle Alozie (Image: Isabel Infantes/PA)

Lauren James to miss at least one match in England's Women's World Cup run

Bronze was one of the 10 Lionesses who defended their way through 30 minutes of extra time in the goalless draw before Bethany England, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly wrapped up the 4-2 win on penalties.

Bronze said: “Obviously she’s going to be disappointed in herself. I went straight off the pitch after the game to make sure she was OK.

“Obviously she was a little bit upset and rightfully so and more than anything she just feels bad for the team. I said to her, ‘We’ve made it through. It’s a team, it’s not just one player.'”

FIFA’s disciplinary committee will now decide James’ World Cup fate – they could extend the 21-year-old’s ban to three matches which would mean she would miss playing the rest of the tournament if the Lionesses reach a first-ever final.

The first red card of the competition was shown in the group stage to Nigeria’s Deborah Abiodun for her tackle on Canada’s Ashley Lawrence, who will join James at Chelsea after signing a three-year deal with the Blues on July 1.

Abiodun’s punishment was extended to three matches after she served the first game, so the same outcome for James, who boss Sarina Wiegman said “lost her emotions” in the incident, is a real possibility. 

Lauren James started the tournament well with goals and assists

James had a good start to the tournament as she scored the only goal in England’s 1-0 group stage victory over Denmark before netting two and picking up three assists in the Lionesses’ 6-1 win over China.

In the process, she became the only England player of either gender to contribute to five goals in a single World Cup contest.

Bronze said: “Although LJ is the youngest in the team, she’s had to mature from a young age because she’s been thrown into the spotlight, whether that’s to do with her brother and her family, or that she’s a fantastic player on her own.

“In the last game, everyone put the spotlight on her. She deals with it very, very well. She likes hanging around with the older players, myself, Jordan (Nobbs), Alex Greenwood, we are the three that she comes to asking for advice.

“LJ didn’t start the first game, she didn’t feature at all during the Euros.

“She’s a massively talented player. We all know that and obviously we’re very disappointed to lose a player of her calibre going into the next game. No one’s going to be more disappointed than LJ. It’s important to support her.”