Women's Euro: England Secure Semifinal Spot As Dramatic Comeback Stuns Sweden
Defending champion England made a stunning comeback against Sweden, drawing 2-2 and winning the penalty shootout 3-2 to reach the semifinals.
With just 12 minutes left, defending champion England was on the brink of elimination from the Women's European Championship. However, the Lionesses made a stunning comeback with two quick goals, drawing 2-2 against Sweden and then winning the penalty shootout to secure a place in the semifinals.
'Very hyper, still very emotional, I think lots of adrenaline still in my body, I mean," England coach Sarina Wiegman said, describing it as the most chaotic match she had ever experienced. 'I can't remember anything like this. I think that's a quality that's so strong from this team, that together they're fighting back and not playing well, but sticking together, that shows so much resilience."
The penalty shootout included nine missed attempts before England emerged victorious 3-2. Eighteen-year-old Smilla Holmberg missed the decisive shot after Lucy Bronze had confidently scored for the Lionesses.
'Stressful. Stressful watching, stressful playing," England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton told the BBC when asked about the shootout. 'Every time I saved one I was thinking 'please just put it in so we have a bit of a cushion.' Their keeper then just went and saved the next one and I was thinking 'oh goodness, here we go.'"
England was relieved to reach the penalty stage, as their earliest exit from a major tournament in over a decade loomed before goals from Bronze and teenage substitute Michelle Agyemang forced extra time. It marked the first time in Women's Euros history that a team had fought back from a two-goal deficit in a knockout match.
'Today I thought three times we were out," Wiegman said. 'And then when you miss so many penalties then I was really conscious 'OK now it's done' and then they missed again. So that needs a little bit of luck of course that they then missed, for them of course the most horrible way to go out of the tournament and for us maybe even more exciting."
England will now face Italy in a semifinal in Geneva on Tuesday.
Sweden had dominated its group with maximum points after three wins, including a memorable 4-1 victory over Germany, and continued their strong form in Zurich. England seemed on the back foot from the start. A pass deflected off Filippa Angeldahl and landed with Stina Blackstenius, who set up an unmarked Kosovare Asllani to score in the bottom left corner just 1 minute, 46 seconds into the match.
Sweden exploited space on the right flank again to double their lead. Blackstenius raced onto Julia Zigiotti Olme's pass, held off Jess Carter, and calmly slotted the ball into the far bottom corner. Hampton made crucial saves to deny Fridolina Rolfö and Blackstenius, keeping England in the game.
Chloe Kelly was introduced in the 78th minute and immediately impacted by crossing from the left for Bronze to head in at the back post. Just two minutes later, another precise cross was nodded down for substitute Agyemang to head in the equaliser. It was the 19-year-old's second goal for England in her third appearance.
With few chances in extra time, penalties were needed to separate the teams. Both Sweden and England had won their last penalty shootouts in the round of 16 at the 2023 World Cup. Four players from each side missed their spot kicks before Bronze scored hers, and Holmberg shot over. Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falk saved four penalties but missed her own attempt.
This shootout evened the teams' records at the Euros. The only other time they had faced off in a shootout was in the 1984 final, which Sweden won.
'All analysis feels fairly pointless right now, right now it's melancholy. You feel a certain sadness that it turned out this way," said Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson, who is leaving after eight years in charge, during which he led the team to two World Cup semifinals, a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and the Euro 2022 semifinals.
First Published:
July 18, 2025, 14:30 IST
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