England’s Lionesses secure their place in the Women’s Euro 2025 final with 2-1 win against Italy

The Lionesses are one step closer to bringing it home! England have officially secured their place in the Women’s Euro 2025 final after winning 2-1 against Italy in the Euro semi-final. 

The Tuesday (22 July) evening match in Switzerland was nearly wrapped at full time, with the Lionesses scoring a last-minute goal which took the score to 1-1 and took the game to extra time. 

It was 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang who came off the bench and scored the equaliser, before Chloe Kelly brought the team to victory in the penultimate minute of extra time during the semi-final against Italy at Geneva’s Stade de Genève. 

“Big Mich at it again!” Kelly told ITV Sport of her teammate Agyemang’s goal, which marks her third in four senior international games since her debut in April. “She’s unbelievable and she should have scored again: that one that hit the crossbar. 

“She’s an unbelievable player and she’s got the world at her feet, a young player with a bright future and I’m absolutely buzzing for her. But this team shows resilience again and we fight back.”

Agyemang, who was also responsible for England’s equalising goal in their quarter-final win against Sweden, added: “I’m so proud of the team’s fight and effort. It’s the character, it’s the strength of this team that has put us this far.”

“It means the world to me. I’m so grateful. Four years ago I was a kid just throwing a ball to some of these girls and now I’m playing with them. It’s a great opportunity and I’m so happy I am here,” she said, reflecting on how she started out as a ballgirl. 

England coach Sarina Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We’re going to make a movie some day! Well, this is a movie, my goodness, it’s unbelievable. Here we are again; it’s really, really special.”

During the press conference, Wiegman also praised Agyemang: “She has something special. She’s only 19 years old, she’s very mature, she knows exactly what she has to do.

“When we have to go to her as a target player, she keeps the ball really well. Even when you saw her hit the crossbar, that was not just a shot, she was aiming for it. If she continues like this she has a very bright future.”

Lionesses captain Leah Williamson said after the match that the team’s substitutes “deserve their flowers” and that she is “very proud” of the group. 

“I think everyone that plays for this team knows how lucky they are to have stepped into a time when we’re so successful, but also just being a part of it, how inspirational it is for us let alone everybody watching,” she said.

“We have one more to go. I promise we’ll give it everything we have.”

The Lionesses’ Euro semi-final win came just days after player Jess Carter shared that she was subjected to “online poison” of racist abuse. 

Her teammates rallied around Carter and refused to take the knee before kick-off. Instead, the team “agreed as a squad to remain standing”, a collective statement from the Lionesses read on Monday (21 July). 

The Lionesses are set to face Spain or Germany in the Euro final 2025 in Basel on Sunday (27 July), which might see England’s team defending their 2022 title.

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