England beats Spain in penalty shootout to win women's Euro 2025
The match ended 1-1 after extra time.
Spain dominated possession and made the breakthrough in the 25th minute as Ona Batlle crossed and the England defence was caught flat-footed, allowing Mariona Caldentey to head the ball past Hannah Hampton.
England levelled in the 57th minute, Alessia Russo heading home from a Chloe Kelly cross.
With the game deadlocked at 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra time, England's Chloe Kelly netted the winner in the penalty shootout.
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Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
England hero Kelly overcomes 'dark moments' on way to Euro 2025 glory
England penalty hero Chloe Kelly said Sunday she had been unable to hold back the tears after finishing a roller-coaster year in her career by scoring the spot-kick that allowed the Lionesses to beat Spain in the Women's Euro 2025 final. The 27-year-old's penalty sealed a 3-1 shoot-out victory for England against Spain after the match in Basel had finished 1-1 at the end of extra time. She had earlier come off the bench late in the first half in place of the injured Lauren James with England trailing 1-0, and crossed for Alessia Russo to head in her team's equaliser. "I just came on the pitch and wanted to make something happen," said Kelly, who has made a habit of being a super-sub during the tournament. The Arsenal player came on as a substitute against Sweden and helped England recover from 2-0 down in a quarter-final they eventually won on penalties -- Kelly scored in that shoot-out too. Then she scored the winner late in extra time in the semi-final against Italy, following in to net after her penalty had been saved. "I know Alessia's strengths and I just tried to put the ball on her head, and then taking the penalty," Kelly said. "I actually missed three penalties in training yesterday but I think it's the belief in this squad, all 23 players and the people that you don't see behind the scenes, the staff members, to get us through this tournament. "I am proud to be part of an amazing group of girls." It is a familiar feeling for Kelly, who scored the extra-time winner when England beat Germany 2-1 in the Euro 2022 final in front of over 87,000 fans at Wembley. In between she was unable to change the game from the bench in the 2023 World Cup final, which England lost 1-0 to Spain in Sydney. - 'Tough times don't last' - Just a few months ago it seemed Kelly might not even make Sarina Wiegman's squad for the tournament in Switzerland, given her situation at club level. In January she asked to leave Manchester City, where she had been used sparingly in the first months of the season. Kelly wrote on social media that people at City had been trying to "assassinate my character" and said her mental wellbeing had been affected. She then joined Arsenal on loan until the end of the campaign, and went on to play for them as they beat Barcelona in the Champions League final in May. "There were a lot of tears at full-time especially when I saw my family because those are the people who got me through those dark moments," Kelly said on Sunday. "I am so grateful to be out of it but if that is a story to tell someone who maybe experiences something the same, then tough times don't last," she added. "Just around the corner was a Champions League final -- I won that, and now a Euros final I have won that, so thank you to everyone who wrote me off. I am grateful." Kelly recently signed permanently for Arsenal, where she also played earlier in her career, and will return to North London as a European champion at club and international level. "Every player has their own story, and I think every story is incredible on its own, but her story is unbelievable," said England coach Sarina Wiegman. "I am so happy for her too. She has been fighting to come back to her highest level. "She loved this moment, she just really wanted to take the penalty -- to be able to score that penalty under that pressure is very impressive too." as/gj
Hamilton Spectator
18 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
The Latest: Cool Kelly seals the win for England
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Defending champion England has won the Women's European Championship after defeating Spain in the final in a penalty shootout. Here's the latest: Cool Kelly seals the win Chloe Kelly says she was confident she would score on England's last spot kick. She stepped up as England's fifth shooter with a chance to decide the final after Salma Paralluelo's shot went wide for Spain. Kelly drew a deep breath, took three strides and blasted the ball into the top of the goal. 'I was cool, I was composed, and I knew I was going to hit the back of the net,' Kelly told Fox's broadcast. England wins on penalties England has defended its European title by defeating Spain in a penalty shootout. The game was tied at 1-1 after extra time. England won the shootout 3-1 with Chloe Kelly scoring the winning penalty kick. Extra time It's 1-1 at full time and the players are coming off the pitch for a quick break. Then it's extra time: two times 15 minutes to break the deadlock. England equalizer England equalized when Alessia Russo made it 1-1 in the 57th minute. Chloe Kelly whipped one of her trademark crosses into the box from the left and Russo rose above the defense to make it 1-1. Spain leads 1-0 at halftime Spain heads into the break in the lead after Mariona Caldentey's goal in the 25th. Both teams traded early blows but Spain looked stronger after the goal. La Roja kept most of the possession and did not allow England to threaten much. England also trailed at halftime in the quarterfinal against Sweden and semifinal against Italy, but still won both games. Spain takes the lead Mariona Caldentey has made it 1-0 for Spain in the 25th minute. Ona Batlle whipped in a cross from the right, after good work by Aitana Bonmati, and Caldentey headed it powerfully home. Closing ceremony Swiss former player Lara Dickenmann carried the trophy out onto the field after the closing ceremony of Euro 2025. A large circular banner was unfurled in the center of the field in tribute to the host nation, while smaller banners were displayed nearby with 'Thank You' in Switzerland's four official languages —Italian, French, German, and Romansh. Two large Alpine-inspired shapes were then carried onto the field, with the England flag on one and Spain's on the other. Nearly 30,000 inflatable clappers had been distributed to the fans beforehand, while 40 members of the closing ceremony cast also had them on the field. The Asturia Quartet, an all-female string ensemble, performed the national anthems. Del Castillo starts for Spain In somewhat of a surprise change, Athenea Del Castillo has been named in Spain's starting lineup in place of Claudia Pina. Del Castillo's only other start in the tournament was in the final group-stage match, against Italy, when many regular starters were rested with Spain already through. The Real Madrid forward scored one and set up another. She also scored the opener in the quarterfinal win against Switzerland just four minutes after coming onto the field. Pina was decisive the last time Spain played England, scoring twice to help her team to a 2-1 comeback victory in the Nations League last month. The only other change to Spain's lineup from its semifinal victory over Germany is the return of defender Laia Aleixandri from suspension, with María Méndez dropping back down to the bench. Spain's lineup: Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Aleixandri, Olga; Bonmatí, Patri, Putellas; Mariona, González, Del Castillo. James is back for England Lauren James has recovered from injury and starts for England with coach Sarina Wiegman making just one change. James had to come off at halftime in England's semifinal victory over Italy on Tuesday with an ankle problem and was seen applying ice to her injury during the match. James has started all five of England's games at Euro 2025 and has been named in the lineup for the final. Defender Jess Carter returns after being omitted from the starting lineup for the first time against Italy, for tactical reasons, two days after revealing she was the target of racist abuse online during the tournament. England's lineup: Hampton; Bronze, Williamson, Carter, Greenwood; Toone, Walsh, Stanway; James, Russo, Hemp. St. Jakob-Park is filling up Basel's soccer stadium has a capacity of 34,250 during Euro 2025 and no empty seats are expected at the final. With an hour to go until kickoff, thousands of fans have already taken their seats. Even before the final, the tournament has broken the total attendance record for a Women's European Championship. A total of 623,088 spectators have attended the 30 matches so far, surpassing the previous total attendance record of 574,875 from Euro 2022. Skies clear up after heavy rain in Basel There have been intermittent torrential showers and thunderstorms but that has not dampened the spirits of thousands of Spanish and England fans that have been gathering in the fan zones in Basel. The rain teemed down about two hours before kickoff but the sun came out shortly afterward and the skies above St. Jakob-Park have cleared up for now. Defending champions did it the hard way England got off to a rough start with a 2-1 defeat to France, becoming the first reigning champion to lose its opening match at a women's Euros. The team bounced back with a 4-0 victory over the Netherlands and a 6-1 thrashing of Wales. Then came the craziness of its quarterfinal against Sweden when it was trailing 2-0 with 12 minutes to go before equalizing and taking the match to extra time and a penalty shootout. There were nine failed penalty attempts before England finally triumphed 3-2. England left it even later in its semifinal against Italy. Teenager Michelle Agyemang leveled in stoppage time to force extra time and fellow substitute Chloe Kelly scored in the 119th minute to secure a 2-1 win, just as it appeared another penalty shootout was looming. (Almost) smooth sailing for Spain Spain swept through the group stage, winning all three matches against Portugal, Belgium and Italy — scoring 14 goals and conceding three. Spain found it tougher to get past Switzerland in the quarterfinals but finally broke the resistance of the host nation with two quickfire goals midway through the second half. Spain also missed two penalties and hit the woodwork three times. Like England, its semifinal lasted 120 minutes. It took a moment of magic from two-time Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí in the 113th minute to secure a 1-0 win over Germany. ___ AP soccer:
New York Times
18 minutes ago
- New York Times
How England nullified Spain: The Wiegman tactics that shut down the world champions
Spain composed themselves, waited for the right moment, and then calmly passed between England's lines. But this isn't an analysis of the tactical battle. It was the scene at 9pm at St Jakob Park when England formed a guard of honour, clapping Spain through to receive their runners-up medals. Somehow, England had done it again. 'We were better,' said Spain manager Montse Tome after the game. 'But football is a sport where not always the best team wins.' Advertisement England have arguably not been the superior side in any of their three knockout games at Euro 2025. They were largely outplayed by Sweden in the quarter-finals before winning on penalties. They were sluggish against Italy in the semi-finals and only squeezed through thanks to an equaliser deep in stoppage time, and a winner at the end of extra time. They competed better in the final against Spain, but they still went behind, and there was a period when Spain seemed set to kill the game. But England, of course, have the never-say-die spirit. They played three matches of 120 minutes each, led for less than five minutes of those matches, and yet are travelling home with the trophy. 'The most chaotic and ridiculous tournament we have played,' said Sarina Wiegman. 'Every time we came back from behind.' GO DEEPER Inside the Lionesses' Euro 2025 win: Wiegman's 'new England' mantra, 'hard' talks and... penalties Wiegman has now won three European Championships on the bounce, an incredible achievement. At times, her starting tactics have been questioned, and she has relied heavily on her bench throughout this tournament, with Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang particularly decisive. But on Sunday, her starting approach deserves credit. For once, Wiegman surprised us. And maybe she surprised Spain, too. Her decision to recall Jess Carter was a hugely brave call. At full-back, Carter had been bypassed easily in England's opening game against France and was moved into central defence. In that role, she had been the target of Sweden's pressing and was overrun. She was dropped for the game against Italy, and her replacement, Esme Morgan, played well. But Carter was in the side. 'I was super scared to play today, for the first time in my life,' she said. 'Then when I woke up this morning and saw my team and the support that I had from my team-mates, my family and my manager, I knew I had to come out today and give it my all.' Advertisement Why did Carter return? 'We can make tactical decisions,' said Wiegman, calmly. 'I said before the tournament that I'm really happy with my squad, that we have players in the same position who can bring different things. Italy and Spain were different games. We felt we needed Jess in the starting line-up for the fight and the duels.' Carter was excellent, and possibly England's best performer on the night. She returned to being the Carter we know, England's most reliable defender in individual battles, a good reader of the game, a no-nonsense player who does her job unfussily. She coped with the power of Esther Gonzalez. She then coped with the speed of Salma Paralluelo. Her final action of the 120 minutes was reading the game, covering behind centre-back partner Leah Williamson and sweeping up to tackle Aitana Bonmati, sending the ball against her and out for an England goal kick. The second call was switching her wingers. Lauren Hemp had only played on the left in this tournament, but she was switched to the right flank and lasted 120 minutes without tiring. Lauren James was moved to the left and was an early threat before going off injured. Her replacement, Kelly, decisive as a substitute against Sweden with her crosses from the left, provided a pinpoint delivery for Alessia Russo's towering header. 'We wanted to switch the play and come in behind a little bit on the inside,' said Wiegman of her inverted wingers. 'So with Lauren James and Chloe Kelly from the left with the right foot, and Lauren Hemp on the right with the left foot.' The third big decision was altering the position of Lucy Bronze, asking her to move inside into midfield — a role she has previously suggested she dislikes. This opened up the passing lane into Hemp. It gave England an extra option in the engine room. 'We know with Spain they're very aggressive when they have to defend,' said Wiegman. 'So we wanted to get out of that first press. We wanted to create a midfield overload and create space a bit down the wing to bring Lauren Hemp a little lower at moments.' 'I think they changed,' Tome said of England's tactics on the night. 'In the first half, they had an additional player in the middle, and I think we managed that.' Advertisement And that was fair. None of these things ever gave England full control or unlocked the Spain defence, but it did help to nullify the world champions — the best possession side in the competition by miles. It did help England to compete. And 1-1, as a final score, was all fair enough, really. Call it a draw? Not in tournaments, of course, and on penalties, you consistently back this England side. This is four shootout wins in a row: Brazil in the Finalissima, Nigeria in the World Cup, Sweden in the quarter-final in Zurich, and Spain in the final in Basel. England's penalty record was not even any good in this tournament — only six of their 12 were scored — but they still won both shootouts. And doesn't that just sum it all up?
