FIFA Women's World Cup champion Japan will be looking to defend their title but first, they need to win against a streaking England squad in the semi-final round.

England will be in their first World Cup semi-finals after beating host nation Canada, 2-1, in the quarterfinals held at the BC Place in Vancouver, Canada last Sunday.

The host nation was stunned as the English squad captured their fourth straight 2-1 win, putting Canada away early in the first half.

England found the net twice just three minutes into the first half to pull away from the host nation.

Portland Thorns FC striker Jodie Taylor gave England the lead with their first goal in the 11^th minute, and Manchester City defender Lucy Bronze scored with a header in the 14^th minute to keep Canada at bay.

Just before the first half ended, Canada finally scored a goal courtesy of Portland forward Christine Sinclair to make it 2-1, but that was all the hosts could muster in the end as they bowed out of the tournament. 

Earlier Sunday, Japan booked their ticket to the semi-finals by beating Australia at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Canada. 

Bayern Munich forward Mana Iwabuchi, who came in as a substitute in the second half against the Aussies, was the hero for the 2011 World Cup champions. 

The 22-year-old from Tokyo scored a late goal in the 87th minute to put her squad ahead, 1-0, and set them up for a date against England. 

Japan is still undefeated in this year's World Cup and is still unbeaten since winning the championship in 2011. 

The Japanese will have the chance to be the first team since Germany to win back-to-back World Cups if they beat England Wednesday and Germany or the United States in the final game. 

The semi-finals match between Japan and England will be shown at 7 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.