England and FCB midfielder Georgia Stanway have claimed the first place in the final of the 2025 European Championship! The Lionesses triumphed 2-1 after extra time against Italy and Arianna Caruso in Geneva to maintain their chance of successfully defending the title. In an evenly balanced first half, the Italians took the lead in the 33rd minute. England’s Lucy Bronze could only clear a cross from Sofia Cantore as far as Barbara Bonansea, who volleyed the ball into the net from a tight angle to put Le Azzure ahead. The game livened up after that and Lauren James had a chance to equalise after being set up by Lauren Hemp, but her effort from 13 metres was pushed away by Laura Giuliani.
England were signifcantly more aggressive in the second half and dominated the match. Hemp’s header at the far post sailed over the bar, before Stanway’s shot from distance was blocked by Elana Linari. The holders continued to ramp up the pressure and were finally rewarded in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Giuliani failed to deal convincingly with a cross from the right and the ball fell to substitute Michelle Agyemang, who squeezed it in past two opponents. The winner for the Lionesses then came shortly before the end of extra time, Chloe Kelly netting from the rebound after her penalty was saved.
England 2-1 Italy a.e.t (FT 1-1, HT 0-1)
Goals: 0-1 Bonansea (33’), 1-1 Agyemang (90’+6), 2-1 Kelly (119’ pen)
FCB players (minutes played): Georgia Stanway (77 minutes), Arianna Caruso (120 minutes)
We assessed the performances of our eight semi-finalists:
Topics of this article