After Sunday’s final was tied 1-1 at the end of extra time, Chelsea Kelly scored the decisive kick that ensured the Lionesses avenged their World Cup final defeat two years prior to retaining their continental crown.
Spain dominating the match at St Jakob-Park in Basel and leading with Mariona Caldentey’s header in the first half appeared to be hoping to win again after winning it against England in Sydney two years ago.
Before coming out on top, England was not in a panic because they already had a chance to win against both Sweden and Italy in the quarter-finals.
No more goals and a shoot-out in which Kelly, who once again had a huge impact off the bench, scored the winner, just before the hour mark, and Alessia Russo headed in the equalizer.
Spain lost in agonizing ways, but they were unable to score three of their spot kicks, with Aitana Bonmati, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, having saved her effort.
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England are now back-to-back European champions under the guidance of Sarina Wiegman, who won their first women’s major competition after they defeated Germany in extra time at Wembley.
Losing the World Cup final in 2023 with a defeat against Spain here helps to compensate for the agony of losing it, and Wiegman’s position among the great coaches is confirmed by this victory.
She led her native Netherlands to victory in the 2017 European Championships before taking the same place with England three years later, winning three more.
In addition to the World Cup they won in Australia, Spain struggled to capture their first European Championship title.
La Roja dominated possession as anticipated, but they ultimately paid the price for allowing an England side to lose without putting the game to rest.
Before scoring twice in extra time against Sweden, Wiegman’s team had lost to them in the final eight games to earn a penalty win.
Then, when Kelly added the winner in extra time, Michelle Agyemang’s 96th-minute equalizer denied Italy in the Geneva semi-finals.
In the end, it didn’t matter that England had played poorly throughout the majority of their campaign.
After deciding to gamble on Lauren James’ fitness with an ankle injury against Italy, Wiegman decided to replace him with Kelly, who did not last until half-time.
Russo and Caldentey engage in a blowout.
When Bonmati and Athenea del Castillo combined to set up Ona Battle, and Caldentey headed her cross in from the right, Spain were already in the lead at that point.
With seven Barcelona players already in charge, Montse Tome’s Spain had already established its dominance, and England’s best chance was complacency from their opponents.
The game’s only goalkeeper, Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll, gave her own area with a careless short pass that was still unearned.
Coll reacted well to Coll’s advice despite the fact that Lauren Hemp was eager to take the chance and seized it.
Even with the score of 1-0, England seemed to be in control, and they took a chance when Kelly cross from the left for her Arsenal teammate Russo to level the scores in the 57th minute.
With more fans present in the 34, 203 capacity, England was anticipating a second comeback win, and Coll had to have the upper hand to stop a Kelly effort from finding the far corner midway through the second half.
Salma Paralluelo and Agyemang both joined Spain, hoping to once again play the super-sub role, while Agyemang did so.
As the game wore on into extra time and the gripping tension of penalties, Paralluelo found herself in a promising position on numerous occasions.
After being forced to retake, Beth Mead’s first kick for England was saved, and Coll also had to stop her goal.
However, Patri Guijarro was the only successful taker for Spain before Kelly took the lead, and neither of Alex Greenwood nor Niamh Charles both scored.
