England women win consecutive European Championships
England's Lionesses have completed an impressive defence of their European Championship, defeating the current World Cup champions, Spain, on penalties after extra time.
England's road to victory was far from straightforward. In the group stage, they lost their opener to France before coming alive and winning decisively against both the Netherlands and Wales.
Timeline of England Women at 2025 Euros (source BBC)
Their first knockout round match started poorly, conceding a goal in the second minute to Sweden. England needed a pair of late goals to tie the game, and then won a wild penalty shootout after a scoreless extra time. England won the game without ever leading.
In the semi-final, Italy went ahead in the first half. England waited until very deep into second half stoppage time to tie the game. The game appeared to be headed to penalties before England scored a remarkable goal in the 119th minute, winning the game while officially only leading for 1 minute.
In the finals, England again went down in the first half, this time with Spain taking the lead. An early second half goal brought the match back on level with the game eventually going into penalty kicks to decide things. England again won the game without ever leading it.
Brentford fans have become accustomed to seeing the Bees win games, particularly against top opponents, while not having much possession. However it's much rarer to win a major tournament without leading. Well done to England's Lionesses.
This story was published on 29 July 2025. It was written by Dennis Flood. The image at the top of this story was generated using AI.