England beat Nigeria 4-2 on penalties on Monday to reach the quarter-finals of the Women's World Cup after their last-16 tie finished deadlocked at 0-0 at the end of extra time.

Chloe Kelly scored the winning kick in the shoot-out to take European champions England, who had Lauren James sent off in normal time, through to a last-eight tie against Colombia or Jamaica.

Despite Nigeria having the better of the chances throughout the match, the European Champions held on after playmaker Lauren James received a red card for a needless stamp and will know they have to improve if they want to add the World Cup to their European crown.

They will face Colombia or Jamaica on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals.

England got off to a terrible start in the penalty shootout when Georgia Stanway fired wide, but Desire Oparanozie couldn't take advantage and missed with an almost identical effort.

Beth England made no mistake, but Nigeria's Michelle Alozie shot way over top to give England an advantage they never surrendered, sealing the win when Chloe Kelly calmly converted.

The Lionesses, who last year won the European Championship at a packed Wembley Stadium in London, were expected to win comfortably against the world's 40th ranked team.

The Nigerians, however, have shown in this World Cup that they have the game to challenge anybody.

They stunned hosts Australia in the group stage, taking advantage of their speed in the transition to win 3-2.

And they employed the same tactics against England, whose back three were regularly exposed by the Nigerian attack. (AFP)