
Lionesses sink Spain in shootout to win Euro 2025
It meant England had successfully defended the title they won three years ago after an enthralling game that ended 1-1 after extra time.
Kelly said: "I'm so proud, so proud of this team, so grateful to wear this badge, and I'm so proud to be English. I was cool, I was composed and I knew I was going to hit the back of the net."
It was another spectacular turnaround from Sarina Wiegman's side, who came back from two goals down to beat Sweden in a shootout in the last eight and beat Italy in the semi-finals with another extra-time goal from Kelly.
Wiegman said: "I can't believe it. The word 'team' really described who we are - a team. We said we can win by any means and that's what we have shown again today."
World and Nations League champions Spain made the breakthrough in the 25th minute as Ona Batlle crossed and the England defence were caught flat-footed, allowing Mariona Caldentey to head the ball past Hannah Hampton.
With Lauren James hampered by an ankle inury, England were struggling, but Kelly came off the bench to replace her just before the break and it proved an inspired substitution from Wiegman.
Kelly helped close down England's porous left flank and provided the cross for Alessia Russo to level in the 57th minute, the forward heading home her inch-perfect assist.
Spain continued to monopolise the ball but could not find another goal before the end of normal time, and the story continued through extra time as they probed and probed, but could not break the English defence as the game finished 1-1.
The Spaniards got the shootout off to a great start when Cata Coll stopped Beth Mead's effort, but England keeper Hannah Hampton saved from Caldentey and Aitana Bonmati to put England in the driving seat.
Coll got Spain back into it with another one-handed stop to block Leah Williamson, but Spain substitute Salma Paralluelo hit her kick wide of the target.
That set the stage for Kelly to repeat her 2022 heroics, when she scored the extra-time winner over Germany that won them the title at Wembley.
Kelly made her trademark prancing run-up before smashing the ball into the net and peeling away in ecstasy to celebrate with her teammates in front of the England fans.
The final was the first time since the inaugural edition in 1984, in which England were beaten by Sweden, that the game was decided by a penalty shootout.
Hampton said: "Unbelievable, incredible, showing throughout this tournament we can come back when we go a goal down, and we have that grit. We've got English blood in us, so we never say die and we just keep going, and we did that today."

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
Spurs captain Son Heung-min to quit Premier League club
Captain Son Heung-min is to leave Tottenham Hotspur after a decade with the Premier League side, including two years under its former Australian boss Ange Postecoglou. At a media conference in Seoul on Saturday, Son said his decision to leave was the most difficult of his career and the club was supporting him as he looked to move on. Spurs will face Newcastle United in a preseason friendly on Sunday in Seoul in what could the final match of Son's time at Spurs. "Before we start the press conference, I just want to share the information that I have decided to leave this club in this summer," Son said. "Respectfully, this club is helping me to my decisions. So I just wanted to share this information before we start the conference." "I came to North London as a kid, 23 years old, very young age, a young boy came to London who even didn't speak English and leaving this club as a grown man is a very, very proud moment." Son also paid tribute to Tottenham fans. "I just want to say thank you to all of the Spurs fans that gave me so much love and felt like it was my home," he said. "It was one of the toughest decisions I ever made. So I hope the goodbye is always also in a good timing you know. "But I think it's the right time to make this decision. So I hope that everybody understands my decision and hope that everyone respects that." Son said he did not have an answer about his playing future though he plans to play for South Korea at next year's World Cup in North America. Media reports have also suggested MLS outfit Los Angeles FC are among favourites to secure his signature. Son achieved his goal of silverware in May when he helped Spurs to Europa League success with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United. It ended a 17-year trophy drought for the club, though the win failed to save the job of Postecoglou who was promptly replaced by Thomas Frank. In 454 appearances for Tottenham, Son scored 173 goals. Captain Son Heung-min is to leave Tottenham Hotspur after a decade with the Premier League side, including two years under its former Australian boss Ange Postecoglou. At a media conference in Seoul on Saturday, Son said his decision to leave was the most difficult of his career and the club was supporting him as he looked to move on. Spurs will face Newcastle United in a preseason friendly on Sunday in Seoul in what could the final match of Son's time at Spurs. "Before we start the press conference, I just want to share the information that I have decided to leave this club in this summer," Son said. "Respectfully, this club is helping me to my decisions. So I just wanted to share this information before we start the conference." "I came to North London as a kid, 23 years old, very young age, a young boy came to London who even didn't speak English and leaving this club as a grown man is a very, very proud moment." Son also paid tribute to Tottenham fans. "I just want to say thank you to all of the Spurs fans that gave me so much love and felt like it was my home," he said. "It was one of the toughest decisions I ever made. So I hope the goodbye is always also in a good timing you know. "But I think it's the right time to make this decision. So I hope that everybody understands my decision and hope that everyone respects that." Son said he did not have an answer about his playing future though he plans to play for South Korea at next year's World Cup in North America. Media reports have also suggested MLS outfit Los Angeles FC are among favourites to secure his signature. Son achieved his goal of silverware in May when he helped Spurs to Europa League success with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United. It ended a 17-year trophy drought for the club, though the win failed to save the job of Postecoglou who was promptly replaced by Thomas Frank. In 454 appearances for Tottenham, Son scored 173 goals. Captain Son Heung-min is to leave Tottenham Hotspur after a decade with the Premier League side, including two years under its former Australian boss Ange Postecoglou. At a media conference in Seoul on Saturday, Son said his decision to leave was the most difficult of his career and the club was supporting him as he looked to move on. Spurs will face Newcastle United in a preseason friendly on Sunday in Seoul in what could the final match of Son's time at Spurs. "Before we start the press conference, I just want to share the information that I have decided to leave this club in this summer," Son said. "Respectfully, this club is helping me to my decisions. So I just wanted to share this information before we start the conference." "I came to North London as a kid, 23 years old, very young age, a young boy came to London who even didn't speak English and leaving this club as a grown man is a very, very proud moment." Son also paid tribute to Tottenham fans. "I just want to say thank you to all of the Spurs fans that gave me so much love and felt like it was my home," he said. "It was one of the toughest decisions I ever made. So I hope the goodbye is always also in a good timing you know. "But I think it's the right time to make this decision. So I hope that everybody understands my decision and hope that everyone respects that." Son said he did not have an answer about his playing future though he plans to play for South Korea at next year's World Cup in North America. Media reports have also suggested MLS outfit Los Angeles FC are among favourites to secure his signature. Son achieved his goal of silverware in May when he helped Spurs to Europa League success with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United. It ended a 17-year trophy drought for the club, though the win failed to save the job of Postecoglou who was promptly replaced by Thomas Frank. In 454 appearances for Tottenham, Son scored 173 goals.


Perth Now
a day ago
- Perth Now
Spurs captain Son Heung-min to quit Premier League club
Captain Son Heung-min is to leave Tottenham Hotspur after a decade with the Premier League side, including two years under its former Australian boss Ange Postecoglou. At a media conference in Seoul on Saturday, Son said his decision to leave was the most difficult of his career and the club was supporting him as he looked to move on. Spurs will face Newcastle United in a preseason friendly on Sunday in Seoul in what could the final match of Son's time at Spurs. "Before we start the press conference, I just want to share the information that I have decided to leave this club in this summer," Son said. "Respectfully, this club is helping me to my decisions. So I just wanted to share this information before we start the conference." "I came to North London as a kid, 23 years old, very young age, a young boy came to London who even didn't speak English and leaving this club as a grown man is a very, very proud moment." Son also paid tribute to Tottenham fans. "I just want to say thank you to all of the Spurs fans that gave me so much love and felt like it was my home," he said. "It was one of the toughest decisions I ever made. So I hope the goodbye is always also in a good timing you know. "But I think it's the right time to make this decision. So I hope that everybody understands my decision and hope that everyone respects that." Son said he did not have an answer about his playing future though he plans to play for South Korea at next year's World Cup in North America. Media reports have also suggested MLS outfit Los Angeles FC are among favourites to secure his signature. Son achieved his goal of silverware in May when he helped Spurs to Europa League success with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United. It ended a 17-year trophy drought for the club, though the win failed to save the job of Postecoglou who was promptly replaced by Thomas Frank. In 454 appearances for Tottenham, Son scored 173 goals.

Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
NRL 2025 LIVE updates: Last-placed Rabbitohs take on Broncos
Loading Go to latest Pinned post from 7.26pm Your say – Broncos or Rabbitohs? 7.33pm Team lists: How Brisbane and Souths line up tonight Brisbane Broncos 1. Reece Walsh 2. Selwyn Cobbo 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Deine Mariner 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Xavier Willison 9. Ben Hunt 16. Corey Jensen 17. Jack Gosiewski 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan Bench: 14. Billy Walters 15. Kobe Hetherington 18. Tyson Smoothy 20. Ben Talty South Sydney Rabbitohs 1. Jye Gray 2. Alex Johnston 3. Isaiah Tass 4. Tallis Duncan 5. Bayleigh Bentley-Hape 19. Lewis Dodd 17. Ashton Ward 8. Jai Arrow 9. Ryan Gray 10. Sean Keppie 11. Euan Aitken 12. Jacob Host 13. Lachlan Hubner. Bench: 14. Siliva Havili 15. Liam Le Blanc 16. Thomas Fletcher 20. Tyrone Munro 7.29pm Farnworth hamstrung in major Dolphins blow Big news out of the early game tonight, with the Dolphins losing superstar centre Herbie Farnworth to a hamstring injury that could potentially rule him out for the rest of the season. It's early days but it didn't look good when Farnworth dropped to the turf after making a line break from inside his own half, having opened the scoring for the Dolphins against the Warriors. Farnworth has been not just a try-scoring machine this season but also arguably the best centre in the league, and his absence is the latest blow for a Dolphins side that has been exceeding expectations despite losing a group of forwards to injury this year. 7.26pm Your say – Broncos or Rabbitohs? 7.26pm Dodd vows to stick it out at Rabbitohs By Christian Nicolussi Wayne Bennett is unsure if expensive English recruit Lewis Dodd will see out the remainder of his lucrative deal at South Sydney. Loading Souths and Bennett are desperate to fight their way off the bottom of the NRL ladder, and will try to upset the Broncos in their backyard with Dodd recalled to play in the halves at the expense of the suspended Jack Wighton. Dodd inked a three-year $2m deal that runs until the end of 2027, but has struggled to play regular first grade – and Bennett refused to confirm if the 23-year-old would remain at the club. 'That's a good question, I can't answer that for you right now,' said Bennett, when asked about Dodd seeing out his deal. 'Lewis has an opportunity Friday night to play again and show us what he can do and can't do. Let's wait and see how that goes. 'He's got an opportunity to play, he hasn't had that all year, he started last week, he's starting this week, we'll all be smarter in a couple of weeks time.' When told about Bennett's comments, Dodd said shortly afterwards: 'I'm here for three years, and that's the plan. 'I've got a chance now, we'll see where that will take me into the off-season, and the start of next [season]. 'It's not nice seeing your name all the time in the media, and for your family as well, but it's part of the game. 'I've done everything I can to be at a level where I think I can do what's right for the team, do my job in the team, and not let anyone down. That started last week, and hopefully that will continue to the end of the year.' 7.25pm Welcome By Dominic Brock Hello and welcome to our live coverage of tonight's Friday night football battle between the Broncos and Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium. Loading There are plenty of reasons for rivalries between these clubs – Souths coach Wayne Bennett made a name for himself at Brisbane, while Broncos captain Adam Reynolds did the same at South Sydney – but this game could also go a long way to deciding where each team finishes this season. Brisbane are among the premiership contenders but find themselves in a tricky spot after last week's shock loss to Parramatta. They're in sixth place, just one win above the ninth-placed Manly, and two wins adrift of the top four. Lose tonight and their place in the top eight could be in doubt. Souths meanwhile are stuck at the foot of the ladder, and are facing the prospect of handing Bennett the wooden spoon for the first time in his illustrious coaching career. They've been smashed by injuries, have lost Jack Wighton to suspension and tonight boast one of the least experienced spines in recent memory – Jye Gray, Lewis Dodd, Jamie Huphreys and Ryan Grey. The Bunnies are big underdogs, but so were the Eels last week and look how that finished up. Follow along for all the action as it happens.