England’s dreams of reaching their first Women’s World Cup final were dashed Tuesday as Steph Houghton’s late penalty was saved in a dramatic semi-final loss to holders the United States.

The England skipper’s 84th-minute spot-kick was held by Alyssa Naeher, shortly before Houghton’s fellow centre-back Millie Bright was sent off for a second bookable offence, as the Lionesses exited at the last-four stage for a third major tournament in a row.

Winger Christen Press and striker Alex Morgan scored with headers either side of Ellen White’s instinctive equaliser as the USA took a deserved 2-1 lead in a frenetic first half.

A spirited Lionesses side improved after the break and White thought she had equalised with a low strike from Jill Scott’s flicked through ball, only to be found to be marginally offside on a video assistant referee (VAR) review.

White was then clipped in the area and Phil Neville’s side were awarded a penalty after another VAR review.

But Houghton could not convert from the spot and the wait for a senior England side to reach a first global final since 1966 goes on.

The USA, who were backed by the majority of the 53,512 crowd in a gripped Stade de Lyon, are through to their third consecutive World Cup final and will now bid for a record fourth title when they face either Sweden or European champions the Netherlands on Sunday.

Those two sides meet on Wednesday, with the losers taking on the Lionesses in Nice in Saturday’s third-place play-off.

Ellen White has a goal ruled out by VAR for offside

The Lionesses were the first senior England side to reach the semi-finals of three consecutive major tournaments, after their third-place finish at the 2015 World Cup in Canada and their run to the last four at Euro 2017.

After winning the invitational SheBelieves Cup in the USA earlier this year, victories over Scotland, Argentina and Japan saw them top Group D in France, as belief grew that they could win their first major trophy.

Consecutive 3-0 victories over Cameroon and Norway in the knockout stages followed, but Neville’s side were unable to play with the same composure on the ball against the confident defending champions.

England came under intense pressure in the early stages and may have been slightly relieved to be only 2-1 down at half-time, after the lively Rose Lavelle twice went close for the holders.

England had the better of the second 45 minutes and were rewarded with a late chance to level when Becky Sauerbrunn made contact with White’s shooting leg when the Manchester City striker was poised to tuck home.

However, Houghton’s penalty was weak and Naeher saved low to her right – the third spot-kick out of four England have missed in this tournament.

Two minutes later Bright was dismissed for a second yellow card for a clumsy foul on Morgan.

Some of the devastated England players sank to the ground in despair as the final whistle extended their wait for a first major title.