Blues captain Karen Carney also spoke to the official Chelsea website about their victory against the Japanese and the prospects of reaching the final of the tournament.

Phil Neville’s side had already secured a last 16 spot before Wednesday night’s impressive 2-0 victory against the 2011 World Cup champions and 2015 runners-up. However, the win ensured they topped their group to face Cameroon (who are ranked 46th in the world) rather than the Dutch who are European champions.

Carney, who assisted Ellen White’s second goal, shared her thoughts on their last Group D fixture: ‘I’m glad we’re through, three wins out of three, this tournament is momentum and results related, and we were lucky a little bit at times, but results are all that matters.’

France 2019 is Carney’s fourth World Cup with England and the winger’s creativity is making a noticeable impact having set up England’s second goal on Wednesday 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute. The 31-year-old is England’s most-capped player in the current squad having made over 145 appearances but is yet to make a start in this World Cup.

‘I know my role, it’s 20 to 30 minutes, make an impact, so I’m happy with that. The goal gave us a bit of breathing space but I think the credit goes to Ellen White, she’s got a habit of scoring against Japan, and I thought she was outstanding.

‘The whole of the team has been outstanding, we’ve dug deep as they are very strong, but I’m happy we’ve won three out of three,’ she said.

‘Phil [Neville] knows what I can do, he’s got a fantastic squad, and I’m happy just to play whatever role it is. Whether it be two minutes, 20 minutes, 90 minutes, whatever he wants, I’m just grateful to play for England.

‘I’m not going to knock on his door because there are fantastic players and I thought that everyone has done exceptionally well in the last three games, it’s been good.’

England have reached the quarter-final stage three times previously, losing out to Germany in 1995, the United States in 2007 and France on penalties in 2011. In 2015, however, the Lionesses earned the bronze medal by beating Germany in the third place play-off.

Carney feels matters are going well for the England side emphasised the ongoing aim to lift the golden trophy on 7 July at Stade de Lyon.

‘Of course, we want to win it, we’ve got a long way to go, but we’ve got the momentum now so we will just keep going.’

Should England beat Cameroon this evening, Carney, Millie Bright, Fran Kirby and Carly Telford will meet their Norway team-mates Maren Mjelde, Maria Thorisdottir and new signing Guro Reiten in the quarter-final.

For Norway, extra-time could not split their 1-1 draw so the game went to penalties, and Norway edged Australia by winning 4-1 in a shoot-out, with Mjelde and Reiten being two of the scorers.

Today’s last 16 match between England and Cameroon kicks off at 4.30 UK time and coverage is being shown on the BBC.