Is Chloe Kelly the first player to score the decisive goal at two major finals?
For a player who has never started a knockout match at a major tournament, Chloe Kelly has had … a reasonable impact. She scored the winner against Germany in extra time in 2022, and the winning penalty in the shootout against Spain on Sunday. Kelly also set up Alessia Russo's equaliser in the final, played a key role in both goals against Sweden in the quarter-finals, kept England in the tournament with a nerveless penalty in the subsequent shootout, and then scored a 119th-minute winner against Italy in the semi-finals.
We're not done. In 2023, Kelly scored the winning penalty in the shootout against Nigeria in the World Cup last 16. If you include the Finalissima against Brazil earlier the same year, Kelly has scored the winning penalty in three shootouts for England. That's more than every other man and woman in England combined. Eric Dier (Colombia, World Cup 2018) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (Switzerland, Euro 2024) are the only players to do it once.
Kelly's substitute role means she hasn't dominated a World Cup or European Championship finals like Carli Lloyd in 2015 or, in the men's game, Diego Maradona at Mexico '86. But she is the first player to score the decisive goal – shootouts included – in two World Cup or European Championship finals. Hers is a modern kind of glory: from the bench, often involving extra time and penalties.
Some greats of the women's game have stolen the show in different ways. Germany's Birgit Prinz scored in – and you'll like this – five finals between 1995 and 2009. Germany won them all, four in the Euros (1995, 1997, 2005, 2009) and one World Cup in 2007. Prinz was also part of the team that won Euro 2001, more of which below, but failed to score in the final.
To find a recent example of a player grabbing the headlines at the business end of a tournament, you only need to go back a couple of years. The Spain left-back Olga Carmona followed an 89th-minute winner against Sweden in the World Cup semi-final by rifling in the only goal of the final against England.
The most dominant performance across a whole knockout stage probably belongs to the aforementioned Carli Lloyd. In 2015, she was player of the match in all four of the USWNT's knockout games. She scored in all four, too, including the only goal against China in the quarter-finals, the opener against Germany in the semis – and a hat-trick inside the first 16 minutes of the final against Japan.
For overall impact, that's very difficult to beat. A few other players are worthy of mention, though:
Pia Sundhage (Sweden, Euro 1984)
Semi-final first leg: scored Sweden's second equaliser in 3-2 win away to Italy
Semi-final second leg: scored both goals in 2-1 win (5-3 agg)
Final: scored Sweden's only goal across the two legs against England, which ended 1-1 on aggregate, then scored the winning penalty in the shootout
(NB: The tournament began at the semi-final stage)
Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands, Euro 2017)
Quarter-final: second goal in 2-0 win over Sweden
Semi-final: opening goal in 3-0 hammering of England
Final: equalised in the 10th minute v Denmark, then scored in the 89th minute to seal a 4-2 win
Megan Rapinoe (USA, World Cup 2019)
Last 16: scored two penalties in 2-1 win against Spain
Quarter-final: scored both goals in 2-1 win over hosts France
Semi-final: didn't play v England due to injury
Final: opened the scoring from the spot in 2-0 win over the Netherlands
Those are the best examples we could find from the Women's Euros and World Cup. But if you have any from other tournaments – or we've missed something obvious – please get in touch.
'Excluding added time, England were ahead for one minute in the knockout rounds of Euro 2025,' notes Chris Williams. 'Assuming this is a record, how does it compare to previous tournaments?'
Kelly's 119th-minute goal against Italy put England ahead for the only time in their three knockout games against Sweden, Italy and Spain. Including added time, they led for four minutes 52 seconds out of approximately six and a half hours. We'll focus on here on how that compares to previous major women's tournaments.
We don't have the added time for previous tournaments so, for purposes of comparison, we've counted each match as lasting 90 or 120 minutes. Before this tournament, the winners of the women's Euros who spent the least time in front were Germany in 2001. They were ahead for a total of 33 minutes, but the context was very different. While England played 360 minutes of knockout football in this tournament, Germany played only 188 in 2001. There are two reasons for that: there were no quarter-finals and the final was decided by a golden goal.
Germany won both their knockout matches 1-0. Sandra Smisek scored after 57 minutes against Norway, giving Germany a lead that lasted 33 minutes. The final against Sweden was settled by an iconic golden goal from Claudia Müller in the eighth minute of extra time. The moment she put Germany ahead, the tournament was over.
Quarter-finals were introduced to the Euros in 2009. Since then, and before this year, this year the team who spent the least time in front were … England in 2022. The total was 107 minutes on that occasion: 24 in extra time v Spain, 56 v Sweden and 27 in the final against Germany.
The briefest frontrunners among the World Cup winners are Japan's class of 2011, who were ahead for a combined total of 42 minutes out of a possible 330 across three knockout games. In the quarter-final against the holders Germany, Karina Maruyama scored the only goal after 108 minutes. Japan then came from behind to beat Sweden 3-1 in the semi-finals, a match in which they led for the last half-hour.
In the final against the United States, Japan twice came from behind to draw 2-2, with Homare Sawa scoring in the 117th minute to take the match to penalties. Japan won the shootout 3-1. When the music stopped, they were in the winning chair.
Any suggestions from further afield? Mail us with your answers.
'At the age of 19, is Michelle Agyemang the youngest England player to win an individual award at a major tournament?' wonders Alex Smith.
Agyemang's impact on Euro 2025 had gone into English football folklore even before the tournament was over. The Arsenal forward still hasn't started an international match but was a threat from the bench in every game and scored dramatic equalisers against Sweden and Italy in the quarter- and semi-finals.
Her story resembles that of Michael Owen, who was even younger when he took France '98 by storm at the age of 18. Owen won Fifa's young player of the tournament award after scoring against Romania and Argentina. 'In my mind, Owen was the only good thing to come out of France 98,' said Diego Maradona a few years later. 'He had speed, cunning and balls.'
As far as we're aware, the other England players to receive official individual awards were all in their 20s and 30s:
Golden BallBeth Mead (aged 27, Euro 2022)
Silver BallLucy Bronze (27, World Cup 2019)
Golden BootHarry Kane (24, World Cup 2018)
Gary Lineker (25, World Cup 1986)
Beth Mead (27, Euro 2022, shared with Germany's Alexandra Popp)
Jodie Taylor (31, Euro 2017)
Bronze BootEllen White (30, World Cup 2019)
Golden GloveMary Earps (29, World Cup 2023)
Best young playerMichael Owen (18, World Cup 1998)
Michelle Agyemang (19, Euro 2025)
'Are the Lionesses the first team to win a major international tournament after going behind in every knockout game?' asks Danielle Patterson.
We had a similar question last year, when England's men's team beat Slovakia, Switzerland and the Netherlands after conceding the first goal. They didn't go on to win Euro 2024 – spoiler alert – and the only example we could find at that stage was China in the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup. This is how they did it.
Quarter-final China 3-1 Vietnam (from 1-0 down)
Semi-final China 2-2 Japan (4-3 pens; China's second equaliser came in the 119th minute)
Final China 3-2 South Korea (China were 2-0 down after 67 minutes before a spectacular fightback culminated in Xiao Yuyi scoring an injury-time winner)
We looked at other comeback kings and queens who didn't go on to lift the trophy; the link is worth clicking just for the story for the crazy story of Jürgen Klinsmann's South Korea at last year AFC Men's Asian Cup.
'Lucy Bronze revealed after Sunday's final that she had played throughout Euro 2025 with a fractured tibia,' writes Tom Walters. 'What other examples are there of footballers playing some or all of a major international tournament with serious injuries?'
'England's two backup keepers at Euro 2025, Anna Moorhouse and Khiara Keating, have just won a major trophy despite both having zero caps,' notes Tim Spargo. 'Has this happened before?'
'With Hugo Ekitiké joining Liverpool, which other players with palindromic surnames have featured in the Premier League (and beyond)?' wonders Michael Martin.
'Lauren James (four) and brother Reece (two) have won six trophies between them in the 2024-25 season. Have any other sets of siblings won more in a single campaign?' asks Magnus Blair.
'We all love it when a goalie comes up for a last-minute set piece,' states Simon Buckton, correctly. 'But has a goalkeeper ever been flagged for offside – or better still, had a goal disallowed for offside?'
'Port Vale have played Everton at Priory Road, Anfield, Goodison Park and now the Hill Dickinson Stadium,' notes Kevin Doran. 'Is there an example of any other team having played another team at four or more home grounds?'
'This week I'm savouring a veritable feast of Luxo-British football in the Conference League: Differdange v The New Saints, followed by Strassen v Dundee United,' writes Martin Davies. 'Both games will take place at Differdange's stadium. Have two British teams played European ties in the same stadium within 48 hours of each other before, or am I going to witness a first?'
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