Women’s Euro final highlights: England beats Spain in a penalty shootout after 1-1 draw

The England players dived into the piles of ticker tape after parading the European trophy around the field.

Ella Toone, Alessia Russo, Lucy Bronze and others were practically swimming in the gold and silver ribbons in the middle of the field and throwing them on their teammates.

As England celebrated with the European trophy at one end, the Spain players slowly left the field at the other side.

The Spain players applauded their fans as they headed to the locker rooms. Some of them removed the runners-up medal from around their necks as they trudged off.

“I’m a bit in shock,” Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí told La 1’s broadcast. “It was cruel. We played better, created more scoring chances, but in soccer sometimes that’s not enough. It all came down to the penalties. I’m sorry for my miss.”

“We worked very hard to get here, but you can’t always win,” Bonmatí said. “When you lose, if feels like everything is bad. We were the best team of the tournament, but sometimes that’s not enough.”

“We will be back,” Bonmatí said. “There will be a World Cup in a couple of years, and that’s our goal now. And in the next Euro we will be back to try to win it. This is a golden generation, with a lot of young players.”

England teenager Michelle Agyemang received the Young Player of the Tournament award.

The 19-year-old came off the bench in four games for England and scored two crucial goals to keep the Lionesses in the tournament.

Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí of Spain was named Player of the Tournament.

Spain dominated for large swathes of the match against England but was ultimately made to pay for its wastefulness in front of goal.

Spain took the lead when Mariona Caldentey headed home Aitana Bonmati’s cross in the 25th minute.

England equalized with a header of its own when Alessia Russo nodded in a cross from Chloe Kelly early in the second half.

Spain missed the few chances there were during extra time.

The England players and fans are joining in a chorus of “We are the champions.”

England captain Leah Williamson hoisted the European trophy as confetti rained down on the team at the prize ceremony.

“I was cool, I was composed, and I knew I was going to hit the back of the net,” Chloe Kelly told Fox’s broadcast, when asked how she felt stepping up to the ball for that penalty kick.

She predicted “crazy” celebrations.

“I hope the whole of England shows out to support us and shows love to all these girls because they deserve it.”

“It’s a very tough moment for us,” Spain captain Irene Paredes told Spanish TV station La 1 after the game.

“We tried everything today but it didn’t go our way in the shootout,” she said. “In the end we deserved more. We had control of the match but it wasn’t our day.”

Chloe Kelly lashed her penalty into the top left corner to win the game and the tournament for England.

Coach Sarina Wiegman ran onto the field to celebrate with her players in front of the England fans as they sang “Sweet Caroline.”

Salma Paralluelo missed for Spain, while Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll stopped Leah Williamson’s attempt.

Niamh Charles scored for the Lionesses.

But Aitana Bonmati’s penalty kick was stopped by Hannah Hampton.

Alex Greenwood scores for England.

Then Mariona Caldentey had her penalty saved.

The Spain goalkeeper saved Beth Mead’s penalty kick.

Mead had to take her penalty twice after a double-touch on the first attempt.

Spain looked like the better team in the second half of extra time and was closer to scoring. England again fell back on defense and couldn’t produce any significant counterattacks.

Paralluelo had a chance for Spain from close range in the 111th but couldn’t get clean a shot off. Vicky López’s strike went over the crossbar a few minutes later.

England barely came close to Spain’s area, though a loose ball near the end almost handed the defending champions a late chance.

England and Spain are heading for only the second ever penalty shootout to decide the Women’s European Championship.

Sweden beat England on penalties in the first final 41 years ago, after the match ended 1-1.

England has won all three of its penalty shootouts under Sarina Wiegman, beating Nigeria in the 2023 World Cup, Brazil in the Finalissima in the same year and Sweden in the Euro 2025 quarterfinals.

Spain has only taken part in two shootouts in major tournaments: losing to Austria in the Euro 2017 quarterfinals and beating Colombia in the last eight of the Olympics last year.

Both sets of fans are loudly and enthusiastically cheering their team on, with a great atmosphere in the stadium.

There are drums and other musical instruments in the stands, while supporters are also making good use of the thousands of inflatable clappers that were distributed before the match.

Spain had a shot by Claudia Pina go wide of the target in the 101st minute, and Salma Paralluelo just missed on a cross from the right on the final play.

Lauren Hemp tried a run for England near the end but couldn’t get past a Spanish defender.

Ona Batlle had a good scoring chance toward the end of the first period of extra time but her shot flashed across the face of the goal.

The players are taking a quick break before the second period.

England forward Lauren Hemp was yellow carded in the 95th minute after stepping on the foot of Aitana Bonmatí.

Hemp was the second player to be booked in the match after teammate Lucy Bronze.

This is the third time England heads into extra time at Euro 2025.

Spain also needed extra time to advance past Germany in the semifinals.

The players are coming off the pitch for a quick break. Then it’s extra time: two times 15 minutes.

Fans of both teams are on the edge of their seats. Will there be a last-gasp winner?

UEFA says a total of 657,291 people attended the 31 games including the final. So that’s the record to beat for future Women’s European Championships.

As expected St. Jakob-Park is packed for the final, with more than 34,000 people watching the game.

Spain almost restored its lead in the 74th minute but substitute Claudia Pina saw her close-range effort saved by England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.

Michelle Agyemang has come on for England in the 71st minute, replacing goalscorer Alessia Russo.

Agyemang scored in both her past two matches after coming on as substitute, with late equalizers against Sweden and Italy.

Chloe Kelly almost gave England the lead in the 69th minute.

Kelly mazed her way into the left side of the area before unleashing a precise strike that Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll managed to fingertip around her post.

Russo’s goal was only the fourth conceded by Spain at Euro 2025, and the first since the group stage.

Spain went through the knockout phase with clean sheets against Switzerland and Germany, winning 2-0 and 1-0, respectively.

It last conceded in its 3-1 win against Italy in its final group-stage match. It also conceded twice in a 6-2 win over Belgium.

England pressed forward from the start of the second half and it paid off with Russo’s equalizer.

England moved up its lines after the break and kept Spain from controlling possession as easily as it did before halftime.

The Spaniards are still looking dangerous in the attack though.

Lucy Bronze has received the first yellow card of the final.

She was booked after clattering into Spain defender Olga Carmona.

Alessia Russo has made it 1-1 in the 57th minute.

Chloe Kelly whipped one of her trademark crosses into the box from the left and Russo rose above the defence to head in the equalizer.

Spain has got the second half underway in Basel.

Mariona Caldentey scored the only goal so far with a header in the 25th minute.

Both teams traded early blows but Spain looked stronger after the goal.

La Roja kept most of the possession and did not allow England to threaten much.

England also trailed at halftime in the quarterfinal against Sweden and semifinal against Italy — and still won.

England forward Lauren James, who was an injury doubt before the match, has been replaced by Chloe Kelly.

James hadn’t looked at her best during the first period of the match and she received treatment on the field briefly before going off with four minutes remaining until the break.

She came off at halftime in England’s semifinal victory over Italy on Tuesday with an ankle problem.

Spain is looking confident after Caldentey’s goal.

The world champions are keeping possession mostly in England’s half as the Lionesses struggle to regain the ball.

England can take heart from the fact that in eight of the previous 30 matches at Euro 2025, the side that has gone 1-0 up has gone on to lose the match.

That has happened in three of the four matches at Basel, with the only exception coming when France bounced back to beat the Netherlands.

It’s 1-0 for Spain.

Ona Batlle whipped in a cross from the right, after good work by Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey headed it powerfully home.