Photo Credit: Philipp Kresnik / SheKicks / SPP
The England Lionesses are back-to-back UEFA Women’s European Championship winners after defeating reigning World Cup champions Spain 3-1 in a penalty shootout after the game remained deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time.
The Euro 2022 victors eventually came out on top in front of a sold-out crowd of 34,203 fans at St.Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland. The result capped off the highest-attended Women’s UEFA European Championship in the tournament’s history at 657,291 total.
Despite the eventual result, Spain started the game on top. Spain only needed 25 minutes to break the deadlock after a relatively even start to the finale of Euro 2025. Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey scored the wide-open header inside the six-yard box off the cross from outside back Ona Batlle, after England defender Lucy Bronze failed to mark the goalscorer properly. Even before the finish, it was a beautiful example of classic Spanish interplay that created the opportunity.
The Lionesses had some early chances but failed to capitalize. After the goal, Spain continued to dominate possession, using an impressive counterpress to not allow England out of their own defensive half.
England were forced to make an early substitution when Lauren James went down injured in the 40th minute. James had already been listed as questionable with an ankle injury. The change resulted in Chloe Kelly‘s earliest appearance in this tournament, having made five second-half appearances off the bench. As a substitute, the Arsenal forward assisted the first goal in the quarterfinal comeback against Sweden and scored the game-winning goal in extra time against Italy in the semifinal. She would once again prove incredibly impactful.
England found an equalizer in the 57th minute through the head of Alessia Russo. Kelly recorded her second assist of the tournament with a pinpoint cross from the left side. Similar to Spain’s opener, the marking in the box didn’t put enough pressure on the goalscorer.
After England’s equalizer, Spain created the majority of, and the higher-quality, chances but couldn’t find that decisive second goal, sending the game to extra time.
Extra time remained deadlocked at one goal apiece, sending Spain to their first penalty shootout of this tournament and England to their second. For the first time since the inaugural edition in 1984, the women’s Euro would be decided by a penalty shootout.
Veteran Beth Mead stepped up first and initially converted down the middle despite slipping, but had her shot well saved by Cata Coll on the forced second attempt. Patri Guijarro was first for Spain and barely squeaked her centered shot past a flying Hannah Hampton. Alex Greenwood converted with a low shot just far enough into the right corner. Caldentey, who missed a penalty earlier in the tournament, had her mid-height shot saved by Hampton. Niamh Charles, a late substitute for England, sent Coll the wrong direction and placed the ball into the left corner. Aitana Bonmatí, Spain’s semifinal goalscorer, also had her mid-height penalty saved by Hampton. Captain Leah Williamson had her attempt saved by Coll with a strong swipe. Salma Paralluelo sent her shot wide of the right post, making it 2-1 in favor of England with one round of kicks left to take. Kelly, who scored the game-winning goal in the Euro 2022 final, stepped up to take the decisive fifth-round kick and sent it into the top left-hand corner for the victory.
Despite long periods of domination, Spain could not win it all in their first-ever Euro Final appearance. Gotham FC and Spain forward Esther Gonzáles still took home the tournament’s Golden Boot as the top scorer with four goals throughout the 2025 Euros. Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Bonmatí was named the Player of the Tournament.
Michelle Agyemang received the Young Player of the Tournament award, having come off the bench in four games and scored two crucial goals for England at the age of 19. Hampton was awarded Player of the Match honors for her several in-game saves and penalty shootout performance.
England were lucky to get to the final in the first place, but in the end, their resiliency paid off and they were able to outlast Spain.
