The decision in an even final came from “Joker” Chloe Kelly, who finished with a stab from a corner and scored only her second goal for England. Ella Toone, England’s substitute, had already scored the 1-0 (62nd). Meanwhile, Lina Magull equalized (79′). Before that, the two teams had largely neutralized each other, especially in the first half.
In the end, England celebrated their first triumph in women’s football after three consecutive semi-final appearances in major tournaments. For the English Football Association, whose president Prince William presented the trophy at the legendary venue, it was only their second title in adult football – after winning the men’s World Cup final at Wembley in 1966 against Germany. Speaking of men: just a year ago, the men lost the European Championship final against Italy on penalties at the same venue, and the women have now made up for lost time.
Toone lobs to make it 1-0 (62 minutes)
The “Joker” bothers – substitute Ella Toone puts England in the lead. With a lob worth seeing, she hits 1-0.
Last but not least, the team manager Sarina Wiegman played a big part in this as she managed to pull off a feat. The 52-year-old Dutchwoman led her own country, now England, to the European title five years ago. Under his leadership, the team has not lost in its 20 games so far.
Portal/Molly Darlington It’s coming home: The Lionesses won England’s first major football title since 1966
Worthy finale at Wembley
Hardly anything better could have happened in the tournament than this final. On one side the hosts England, on the other the record champions of Germany – and that at the cathedral football Wembley Stadium in London. “It will be a great football festival,” said Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg before the “classic”. The Germans had already won all eight European Championship finals, the most recent nine years ago.
Portal/Peter Cziborra A “classic” like a dream final: England v Germany at Wembley Stadium
After 25 days, the 13th European Women’s Championship came to a dignified end. What started with the opening game between England and Austria (1-0) at Manchester’s legendary Old Trafford, in front of 68,871 fans, also ended with a European Championship record in terms of spectators. 87,192 arrived and, as in the three and a half weeks, they ensured a great atmosphere in the homeland of football. In the end, 574,875 people attended the stadiums, doubling the previous record of EM 2017 (240,055).
Captain DFB Popp’s short-term failure
From a sporting point of view, the clearly better teams of the tournament were also in the final, both conceding just one goal and scoring 20 and 13 goals respectively. This was more to be expected in England, the “Liones” entered the tournament as favourites, Germany entered after a difficult few years as a dangerous outsider. However, they gave up that role early on with a 4–0 win over Denmark.
European Football Championship
The live ticker to read
As far as the starting lines are concerned, both coaches have stayed true to themselves, especially Wiegman. The 52-year-old coach has played the same eleven six times, which has never happened in the history of the European Championship for men or women. Voss-Tecklenburg would also love to have the same lineup as they did in the semi-finals against France, but Alexandra Popp had to sit out injured in a short time. The captain, who, like Beth Mead, had scored six goals in Euros before the final, had to struggle with muscle problems and Lea Schüller came back from the start in her place.
balanced initial phase
The final, led by Ukrainian Kateryna Monsul, started in a balanced way. Both teams also put their bodies well in the duels, there were intense duels, both wanted to have at least the perceived command on the field. Naturally, neither team didn’t take a lot of risk and there was rarely a real flow of play, so there were half chances not just at the beginning.
White with the first chance (3rd minute)
Ellen White hits the first good opportunity of the game. After a cross from Kirby, she didn’t get the ball well enough into the German goal.
After a Fran Kirby cross, Ellen White finally headed in, but it was too harmless for goalkeeper Merle Frohms (3rd). On the other hand, Sara Däbritz hit defender Lucy Bronze in the head in the sixteenth minute (10′). The latter had another chance a few minutes later, but his header turned out to be very harmless (19′). This was at a time when English women took matters into their own hands again.
Little chance at first
Overall, however, it remained an open question, especially as the two teams kept their respective weapons in check in the outer positions. “They manage to neutralize the strengths on the wings,” judged ÖFB record label and ORF expert Nina Burger. As is often the case in such situations, a set piece created a chance, but goalkeeper Mary Earps had the best finish against Marina Hegering. Captain Leah Williamson also caught the ball in the arm in this messy situation, but the video referee (VAR) did not consider this a punishable offence.
Earps saves on line (25 minutes)
Germany becomes dangerous with a corner kick. England goalkeeper Mary Earps manages to control the ball just before the line.
The really big chances were scarce in the first half, the game was balanced in terms of ball possession and the two defensive lines showed their strength. No wonder they conceded just one goal in five games. England could have gone into the break with an advantage, but White lost the goal in the area after a cross from Mead (38′). In the last third, both teams presented themselves not yet worthy of the final.
Germany comes out strong
After the two teams neutralized each other more or less in the first half, it was up to the coaches. Voss-Tecklenburg picked the first move and brought out the first “wild card” with Tabea Wassmuth, who entered the game for the pale Jule Brand. And it almost paid off right after the restart. The Wolfsburg striker had space on the left and aimed very imprecisely in front of Earps (48th).
Chance for Magull (50th minute)
A shot by Lina Magull narrowly misses the English goal.
Just two minutes later, Germany had the next chance: Lina Magull was presented with the ball about 13 meters from the goal and wanted to shine with “Spitz von Wembley”, but the ball rolled past the goal. Wiegman had seen enough and brought his “Joker” into play in a double pack. Besides Toone, it was Alessia Russio to Kirby and White. It must compensate.
“Joker” Toone wins for England
England initially managed to free themselves from the opponents’ grip and designed the game open again. But first Hegering and Mead clashed, which resulted in an interruption of several minutes. England briefly played with just ten men, but suddenly it was enough: Keira Walsh had space and time in her own midfield and sent Toone off. The striker escaped the German defense and scored a goal over Frohms (62nd). Now the London “melting pot” was almost gone.
Portal/Dylan Martinez “Toone Time”: The forward beat German goalkeeper Merle Frohms to make it 1-0
Mead, who, like Popp, was top scorer in the European Championship with six goals, left the field injured and hoped her teammates would take the advantage over time. But Germany still had an answer.
Magull scores a deserved draw
Magull refueled in the area from the right and hit the post hard (66′). The pressure gradually increased and the draw was deserved. The Germans combined again on the right, Wassmuth served Magull from five and the Bayern player completed the short corner for Earps (79′).
Magull equals 1:1 (79th minute)
After a few failed opportunities, Lina Magull is still successful. It scores 1:1 for the Germans.
The rest of the regular season didn’t bring much more chances for either side, and it wasn’t enough for a “lucky punch”. It went into overtime and then the game went back to the safety category. The two teams approached the danger zone, but for now there were no chances. This changed again after switching sides.
Kelly Brings “Liones” to the Throne
At 110 minutes, the time came and a set piece combined with the balance of forces. From a corner, Bronze extended in front of the goal and Kelly converted Frohms on the second attempt. At first she didn’t know if the goal counted, but then she took off her shirt and waved it in the air with joy (110th), probably because she tore her cruciate ligament a year ago and returned it in time for the home team EM had done.
England opened the second advantage, Germany only had one chance through defender Giulia Gwinn, but the ball landed in the side net. Minutes later, the referee Monsul blew the whistle, the applause had no limits, and in the end only a refrain could resound from the loudspeakers: “Football is coming”.
Game comments:
Sarina Wiegman (England team boss): “It’s amazing. The players really wanted to win and worked every day to improve. It was a hard-fought game, but we won.”
Chloe Kelly (England winner): “Oh my God, it’s unbelievable. These are the things dreams are made of. Thank you to everyone who helped with my rehabilitation. I always believed I could be here, but also to score the winning goal – wow I just want to party We are a very special group”.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (German national team boss): “There has to be a loser. We were close after 1-1. The second goal is extremely unfortunate. Goals decide games and England scored one more. We always said that we want to play as a team, winning or losing. At half-time we asked for more courage. We played it all, all the players gave their all. We just kept going now.”
UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 Final
Sunday:
England – Germany 2-1 after (0-0, 1-1)
London, Wembley Stadium, 87,192 spectators, SR Monsul (UKR)
Goal streak:
1-0 Toone (62′)
1-1 Magull (79′)
2-1 Kelly (110′)
England: Earps – Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Daly (88/Greenwood) – Stanway (88/Scott), Walsh – Mead (64/Kelly), Kirby (56/Toone), Hemp (119/Parris) – White (56’/ ) Russian)
Germany: Frohms – Gwinn, Hendrich, Hegering (103rd / Doorsoun), Rauch (113th / Lattwein) – Oberdorf, Däbritz (73rd / Lohmann) – Huth, Magull (91st / Dallmann), Brand (46th / Waßmuth) – Schüller (67th / Anyomi ) )
Yellow cards: Stanway, Branco or Rauch, Oberdorf, Schüller