Spain or England? Predicting the Euro 2025 Final We Wanted To See

Fox News

2 days ago

It's the juicy rematch everyone wants to see.
These nations met in the 2023 World Cup final where Spain was crowned world champions for the first time. Now England will get a shot at revenge and attempt to secure a consecutive Euro title. Here's what you need to know ahead of Sunday's matchup:
"You can never write the English off." Chloe Kelly's words have rang true throughout this tournament as England brushed off elimination multiple times.
The defending tournament champions needed extra time – and a favorable call in the box – to beat Italy 2-1 in Tuesday's semifinal. And before that, it took a penalty shootout to edge a more imposing Sweden team. On paper, both Sweden and Italy should have won those respective matches. But the Lionesses have that never-say-die mentality and have found different ways to win.
Michelle Agyemang, the 19-year-old Arsenal forward, came off the bench in both the quarterfinal and semifinal matches to score brilliant and decisive goals. But it was Kelly, England's hero from the last European championship, who came on as a late sub and provided a spark that carried her team to those victories.
Against Sweden, Kelly had the assist on Lucy Bronze's goal in the 79th minute and then converted her penalty during the shootout. In the Italy match, she was tasked with taking the controversial spot kick in the 119th minute. While she missed her initial attempt, the confident forward followed up and fired her own game-winning rebound into the back of the net.
Then England's celebration queen paid homage to both Cristiano Ronaldo's "calma, calma" gesture and Thierry Henry's corner-flag pose in fitting fashion:
"It's definitely a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat," Kelly added.
Aitana Bonmatí, who was hospitalized with meningitis days before the Euros began, scored the winning goal in extra time to propel Spain to a 1-0 victory over Germany in the second semifinal.
Despite not starting the first couple of games while she recovered and eased back onto the pitch, it almost seemed inevitable that Bonmatí would have a magic moment at some point during this tournament. And it happened at the most important time as a penalty shootout looomed.
The two-time Ballon d'Or winner made some dangerous runs earlier in the match, but overall Germany defended her well. Then in the 113th minute, she found herself pinned near the end line at an awkward angle looking at the goal. While it seemed at first as if she was looking to cross the ball to one of her teammates, Bonmatí instead slipped a shot past German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger at the near post.
Berger had been outstanding the entire tournament – she was the hero of Germany's quarterfinal win over France. But the Gotham FC goalkeeper was out of position as she likely guessed Bonmatí was going to cross the ball instead of shoot it. She blamed herself afterward.
"I can make as many saves as I want, but that one should have been mine, and that's why I'm incredibly sorry. For the team, not for me, but for those who gave their all," Berger said.
Now Spain will play in its first-ever European final. On paper, it may seem like England are more battle-tested, having played France and the Netherlands during the group stage before facing Sweden and Italy in the knockout round. But the Spaniards are coming off consecutive challenging games, including a 2-0 quarterfinal win over tournament host Switzerland last week in which they missed two PKs in regulation.
Final prediction: Spain wins, 2-1.
This will be an epic fight in the final, no doubt.
While Spain has been the steady favorite all along and proven to be the most talented and technical side in this tournament, what we've learned over the last few weeks is you can never count England out.
Even if La Roja dominate and maintain possession for most of the game on Sunday – even if they have a lead – the Lionesses are a squad that could pull the rug out at any moment. That's exactly what they did to Sweden and to Italy. At the point in those respective matches when England was mounting its comeback, the opponent had already subbed off some of its most important players, likely thinking the game was in hand.
Spain and England know each other well with mostly the same rosters who faced each other in the 2023 World Cup final in Australia. Additionally, many of these players recently clashed when Arsenal defeated Barcelona 1-0 in the Champions League final.
So needless to say that Sunday will be a tight, thrilling game and could very well break attendance and viewership records for a Women's European championship game.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.