She Shoots, She Scores

History was ready to be written as England geared up to meet Spain once again, this time in the final of the Euros – Spain’s first ever, while England were prepared to defend their title. 

Having won the World Cup back in 2023 and gone nearly unbeaten since, Spain were seen as the tournament favourites from the beginning. Living up to that title, they got the early lead when Arsenal’s Mariona Caldentey scored 25 minutes in. Things weren’t looking good for England, and worry only grew when Lauren James was subbed off with an injury before the 40th minute, bringing on supersub Chloe Kelly to take her place and build up some momentum again for the team. A few near shots was as close as the Lionesses could get in the first half, as the score stayed 0-1. 

Going into the second half, England made a few tactile changes to their line up, changing the position of their backline to help confuse the Spanish and allow them to gain more possession of the ball. This worked in their favour when Chloe Kelly crossed the ball into the box for a beautiful header from Alessia Russo, levelling the game at 1-1. The momentum continued from both sides, but no more goals came from either of them, leading into extra time a before heading to a penalty shootout to decide the champion. 

With the nation holding their breaths, players went up one by one to do their bit for their country, but none so much as Hannah Hampton, who saved not one but two penalties against goal scorer Mariona Caldentey and Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati. These saves meant that when Salma Paralluelo took her shot wide, England were in a position to win with one more goal. And who else could take it other than golden girl Chloe Kelly, who scored the winning goal back in 2022, and with a penalty kick more powerful than any shot taken in the Premier League this season, sealed the deal for England and brought it home once again, ending the game 3-1 on penalties. 

The Lionesses now not only become the first back to back champions in English history, but the first to lift a trophy on foreign soil. While the girls haven’t always done things the easy way, their ‘never say die’ mentality and strength has inspired the entire nation, and have done us all so incredibly proud. In the words of captain Leah Williamson, ‘The English are never done!’