Hands on her head, disbelief clouding her thoughts, Lioness defender Lucy Bronze stood frozen in front of the goal. England were 1-0 down in the Women’s Euro 2025 final to the tournament favourites, Spain, and their team was a chaotic mess.
It was a situation that was all too familiar.
For the third match in a row, England’s players stared at the scoreboard, devoid of answers. A 25th-minute header from Mariona Caldentey, the final touch on a blistering Spanish move down the right channel, had silenced the roaring Lionesses.
“Not again,” was the collective murmur of the England fans everywhere, from the tens of thousands packed into Basel’s St Jakob-Park in Switzerland, to the millions watching nervously back home. They had seen this downbeat script before: a first-half Spain goal in the 2023 FIFA World Cup final in Sydney, Australia, had crushed English hearts.
But this time, the ending was England’s to write.
Living up to their billing as the comeback queens of the tournament, the Lionesses clawed their way back into the contest through Alessia Russo’s equaliser in the second half, forcing the world champions into extra time.
Two hours of football saw the statistics heavily favour La Roja, but for all their skill and swagger, it was England’s grit and grind that carried them through to victory.
“Football is chaos,” England coach Sarina Wiegman told the BBC after riding a rollercoaster of emotions on the touchline as her side beat Spain 3-1 on penalties.
With her signature prancing run-up, Chloe Kelly buried the final spot kick into the net, triumphantly punching her fist in the air. The comeback, or “remontada” as the Spaniards call it, was complete.
The calm and composed Kelly, who also set up Russo’s header, was once again the heroic face of England’s title-winning team, just as she was at Wembley three years ago at Euro 2022.
“The first time was so nice, we had to do it twice,” remarked the 27-year-old, flashing a smile as she proudly held up the coveted gold medal hanging around her neck.
Super-subs steal the show
Sunday’s comeback victory was a fitting nod to England’s Euro 2025 campaign: thrilling, chaotic and entertaining.
For a team that led for just under five minutes in the knockout stage, their ability to survive, adapt and strike when it mattered most defined their championship journey.
And in doing so, they scripted one of the greatest chapters in English football history, a triumph rivalled only by the men’s World Cup win at home in 1966.
“It has been the most chaotic tournament on the pitch…. From the first game, it was chaos,” said Dutchwoman Wiegman, who now has three Euro titles in her resume.
“Losing your first game and becoming European champions is incredible.”
Indeed, England’s title defence began with a 2-1 loss to France, casting early doubt over their credentials as true contenders. But resounding victories – a 4-0 thrashing of the mighty Netherlands and a 6-1 rout of neighbours Wales – steadied the ship as they sailed through to the knockouts.
The storm, though, arrived soon enough, bringing with it the ultimate test of England’s resolve at the business end of the tournament. The quarterfinals and semifinals pushed the team to the brink, demanding utmost composure from the players in the nerve-racking late-game moments. They rose to each occasion, with Wiegman’s tactical nous and the squad depth proving decisive.
Eleven minutes away from elimination in the quarterfinals, teen sensation Michelle Agyemang scored a superb equaliser against Sweden, as England recovered from two goals down to win 3-2 on penalties.
The 19-year-old reserve player, whose surname fittingly means “saviour of the nation“, once again stepped up when it mattered the most, this time in the semifinals against Italy, netting a stoppage-time leveller to send the match into extra time.
Super-sub Kelly then finished the job, converting the rebound from a missed penalty in the dying seconds of extra time.
The impact of England’s interchange players at the tournament was unmatched. They were directly involved in 10 goals, twice as many as any other side and the most ever recorded in a single edition of the tournament since 2013.
‘Tough times don’t last’
Just six months ago, Kelly was struggling for minutes at Manchester City and unsure of her Euro 2025 spot, until a loan move to Arsenal changed her fortunes.
“Just around the corner was a Champions League final, won that, and now a Euros final, won that,” said Kelly, who has made a habit of changing matches when it matters most.
“If that’s a story to tell someone, maybe experiencing something the same, tough times don’t last.”
Just like Kelly, goalkeeper Hannah Hampton also overcame adversity to emerge as one of England’s most impactful players at the European Championships.
The 24-year-old, playing in her first major tournament and filling in for the big shoes of Mary Earps, pulled off two brilliant saves in the quarterfinals with a bloodied nose before thwarting away two more crucial goal attempts in the final, including one from Aitana Bonmati, considered by many football commentators to be the best player in the world.
Born with a serious eye condition that still affects her depth perception despite multiple surgeries, Hampton defied the odds, ending her Euro campaign with the player of the match award in the final.
“I think she’s done amazing,” Wiegman said of Hampton. “It’s a bit like a fairytale to stop those penalties in the final of the Euros and to win it.”
Having weathered the storm in Switzerland, Wiegman and the Lionesses are back on home soil. As they ride through roaring crowds in their open-top bus parade across London on Tuesday, the message is no longer, “It’s coming home”. This time, it’s staying home.
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