
Spain beats Germany 1-0 to reach Euro '25 final vs. England and repeat of World Cup title game
ZURICH (AP) — Aitana Bonmatí scored in extra time to send Spain to its first-ever Women's European Championship final with a 1-0 win over Germany on Wednesday, setting up a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final.
A stubborn Germany performance had seen it take the world champions to extra time and Spain needed a superb strike from the two-time Ballon d'Or winner to secure a first-ever win over Germany.
Spain moved closer to adding the European Championship trophy to its collection after winning the World Cup and Nations League in the past two years.
Montse Tomé's side will face defending champion England on Sunday in a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final, which Spain won 1-0.
England also needed extra time to snatch a 2-1 win over Italy on Tuesday.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
recommended
Item 1 of 3
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
7 minutes ago
- New York Post
Deion Sanders to hold press conference with Colorado medical team amid mysterious health battle
Deion Sanders provided a brief, positive health update Friday, and it seems the full reveal of his medical battle that has had him laying low this offseason is coming soon. Sanders tweeted 'Back and Feeling Great!' on X on Friday morning with his third season as Colorado's coach nearing, and will hold a press conference Monday with his medical team, which features staffers from CU Anschutz and UC Health, to 'provide general and team updates,' the school said in a release. The 57-year-old Sanders has not offered many details about the mysterious illness that has kept the camera friendly coach out of the spotlight this offseason. Advertisement 4 Deion Sanders at Big 12 media day on July 9. AP He missed part of the Buffaloes' spring and summer workouts due to the health issue, per ESPN, and also did not attend contract-stipulated summer football camps. Sanders told former NFL star cornerback Asante Samuel in May that 'what I'm dealing with right now is at a whole other level.' Advertisement The NFL Hall of Famer has battled various health scares in recent years, including having two toes amputated in 2021 and 2023 surgery for blood clots in his left leg. Sanders got a little testy at Big 12 media day earlier this month when pressed about the issue, although he downplayed any concern to ESPN. 4 Deion Sanders during Colorado's spring game in April. AP 'I'm already back,' Sanders told ESPN on July 9 at Big 12 media day. 'I'm here today. I'm handling my responsibilities. So I look forward to it. I can't wait. You've got to understand, some of the young (players) I haven't even met yet. I'm so excited about that.' Advertisement Sanders spent plenty of time this offseason at his compound in Canton, Texas, with his children joining him and providing infrequent health updates. 4 Deion Sanders coaching during the spring game. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect He said in a YouTube video posted July 20 by his oldest son, Deion Jr.. that, 'You know I'm still going through something' and 'I ain't all the way recovered.' Deion Jr. then referenced a 'battle that was fought and won' at the compound in his last YouTube video posted July 23. Advertisement Deion also recently visited son Shilo Sanders at the Buccaneers' facility while the undrafted safety attempts to crack the reigning NFC South champions' roster. 4 Deion Sanders (l) and Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles (d) during his recent visit. AP 'I'm kind of sad, I'm not gonna lie to you,' Deion Jr. said of leaving the compound. 'I learned to really actually love this place. … It's not even just about being here. It was like the battle that was fought here. The battle that was fought and won here. That's like the main important thing. Boys didn't left the house for two months. 'It's a blessing. He's gonna tell y'all whatever he went through very soon, and I've got a lot of it recorded on video. So, you'll be able to see what he went through.' Sanders faces perhaps his toughest coaching challenge this upcoming season since becoming Colorado's coach prior to the 2023 season. He will no longer have reigning Heisman winner and two-way phenom Travis Hunter, the No. 2 pick in the draft, or quarterback son Shedeur Sanders, who fell to the fifth round. Advertisement The Buffaloes open the season at home Aug. 29 against Georgia Tech.

19 minutes ago
Euro 2025: Spain's style vs. England's will to win sets up fascinating final
BASEL, Switzerland -- A title game between defending champion England and World Cup winner Spain is the Women's European Championship final that many wanted. How they got to Basel on Sunday is a whole other story. Spain has mostly cruised through its five games except for a late scare in a tense semifinal against Germany. England has trailed for long periods of three games and survived being on the brink of elimination in both knockout games. Spain is a supremely technical team with a dream midfield pairing two-time Ballon d'Or winners Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí. England has incredible will to win and has called a pair of dramatic game-changers off the bench, Michelle Agyemang and Chloe Kelly. 'We always have the confidence that in terms of positioning and having possession, we tend to be very precise and it's difficult to take the ball off us,' Putellas said. "So we're ready for anything.″ It looks like an ideal final of contrasting styles. One made possible only because England's humbling opening 2-1 loss to France ultimately kept the title holder out of Spain's side of the knockout bracket. Four vs. 219. That's the number of minutes Spain has trailed at Euro 2025 games compared to England. Spain fell behind between the 10th and 14th minutes of a group-stage game against Italy when some starters were rested because the team was likely to finish top. England gave up two first-half goals against France in their group, again to Sweden in the quarterfinals and one more to Italy in the semifinals. England's equalizing goals by Agyemang in the knockout games came in, respectively, the 81st and then the sixth minute of stoppage time. 'I think we've nearly killed her twice this tournament!' England's Ella Toone said of coach Sarina Wiegman. 'She says we've definitely aged her.' Spain midfielder Patri Guijarro said of England's resolve: ″There's no fragility. And I think that above all, their competitiveness, is what has got them this far. But what they're doing is not easy.″ Spain and England each beat the other when winning their recent titles, and they traded wins in a UEFA Nations League group this year. England eliminated Spain 2-1 after extra time in the quarterfinals of its home Euro 2022. Does this sound familiar? England trailed into the 84th that day before two substitutes — Alessia Russo and Toone — assisted and scored to force extra time. Spain got a deserved 1-0 win in the 2023 World Cup final played in Sydney, Australia. Spain is now on a run of 13 wins in 14 games and the blip was a 1-0 loss to England at Wembley in February. Spain won the return game 2-1 on June 3, rallying with two Clàudia Pina goals in the second half. For the eighth straight edition, the title-winning coach will be a woman. England's Wiegman and Spain's Montse Tomé were in a minority of seven female head coaches with the 16 teams that started in Euro 2025. They are the last coaches standing to extend a winning run started in 1997. Wiegman won the past two, with England in 2022 and her native Netherlands in 2017. Germany coaches Silvia Neid and Tina Theune won the previous five. Spain never reached the final in 13 previous editions since 1984. That first final 41 years ago is the only one decided by a penalty shootout. Sweden beat England in a rain-soaked, near-empty stadium in Luton after a two-leg final ended 1-1. The scorer of Sweden's decisive penalty, and its goal in the first leg, was Pia Sundhage, who coached Switzerland to the quarterfinals here, losing 2-0 to Spain. England's second shootout in Women's Euros history also was against Sweden, last week in the quarterfinals. A madcap affair saw only five of 14 spot kicks scored and Sweden fail twice when scoring would have sent England home. Spain was involved in just one Women's Euros shootout, losing to Austria in the 2017 quarterfinals.
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Euro 2025: Destiny awaits Lionesses ahead of Spain crunch clash
As 87,182 fans flocked to Wembley in the summer of 2022, it was as though they were witnessing destiny fall into place. At Euro 2022, the Lionesses rode a wave of momentum that carried them through a dreamlike summer almost without hitch. From a group stage that saw England score 14 goals and concede none to a 4-0 semi-final win over Sweden, complete with improvised back heels and unending chants of 'it's coming home', they simply seemed unstoppable. It felt like fate when Keira Walsh lofted the ball over the German defence and into the path of Ella Toone, who chipped Merle Frohms and wheeled away to the roar of Wembley. Even when Lina Magull equalised to take it to extra time, the Lionesses had a meeting with history as Chloe Kelly etched her name indelibly into English football's annals and transformed women's football in the country forever. At Euro 2025, the path has not always seemed so fateful. Twice England have looked all but out of their title defence while a defeat in the first match has left them playing must-win football almost from the outset. Performances, too, have hardly been the stuff of dreams. An error-strewn display at the Stadion Letzigrund set the tone for the Lionesses' tournament and the Netherlands and Wales proved kind opponents to allow England to progress with relative ease, neither providing a real test. Against Sweden in Zurich, for 70 minutes it looked like it was back to the England that had first arrived at the tournament in the 2-1 defeat against France. The backline looked fragile, conceding two early goals, and the Lionesses looked out of ideas upfront. But then destiny's child herself Kelly entered the pitch and had everyone saying her name as she delivered two crosses that led to a spell that felt just short of divine intervention. Lucy Bronze nodded home to put England within reach before 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang took the game to extra time and then penalties. Somehow the Lionesses had made it through and the story was much the same in Geneva against Italy. Just like that fateful day in Wembley in 2022, it was the substitutes who made the difference. Agyemang equalised before who else but Kelly poked home the rebound from her saved penalty to fire England into a third consecutive major tournament final. The Lionesses may not have played well but they have played with a belief and inevitability that brings echoes of 2022. Three years ago, it was Spain who arguably came closest to stopping England meeting their destiny at Wembley, and on Sunday it is only Spain who can stop them doing it again. But the world champions enter the match as favourites. They beat England 1-0 in the World Cup final in 2023 and have since proved dominant, certainly within Europe. They boast a starting XI from which no one would look amiss on the Ballon D'Or shortlist while their midfield trio of Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati and Patri Guijarro boast four of the accolades between them, with Patri the shout for Player of the Tournament. On almost every tangible metric this tournament, Spain have outperformed their opponents in Basel, with more goals, less conceded, more shots on target, more passes completed and more corners won. It is in the intangibles that the Lionesses can set their store. A sense of belief and their enduring mantra of 'proper English football', referring to their resilience, has so far been all that has set them apart from their opponents. Hair-raising encounters might have ensued but somehow they have always found a way. And if fate can be found through stats then perhaps it is on England's side in Switzerland. The past three Women's World Cups, past three men's World Cups and past four men's European Championships have all been won by the team with the earlier semi-final. Of course, science also plays a role in terms of recovery but for those of a more superstitious disposition, Spain and England's tendency to alternate results also falls in England's favour. Since 2019, neither side have won consecutive games against the other and it was La Roja who last had the advantage as they triumphed 2-1 over England in the Nations League in June. In elite international football there appears little room for fate as every detail is planned down to the finest margin. But at St. Jakob Park on Sunday, in the year of the underdog, it may very well be England's belief in their destiny that could get them over the line.