Looking back on the Lionesses’ historic Euro 2022 final triumph over Germany last summer

As the Wembley crowd roared, England’s Lionesses celebrated a seismic achievement in the history of women’s football in the UK. Long forced to watch on as other nations claimed the biggest prizes in world and European football, England finally announced themselves by winning Women’s Euro 2022 on home soil.

The exploits of Sarina Weigman’s side captured the imagination of the whole country, and one year on, England will be hoping to perform similar heroics at the Women’s World Cup, which gets underway in Australia and New Zealand later this month. The Lionesses are one of the favourites in the Womens World Cup favourites, and will be hoping to gain immortality by becoming world and European champions.

The sensational success of last summer is still fresh in the minds of many fans, so let’s take a look back at that glorious day last July when England earned their moment of glory.

The road to Wembley

Of course, to even reach the final at Wembley, England needed to navigate a tricky tournament full of teams eager to make history themselves. Drawn in a group with Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland, Weigman’s side were heavy favourites to progress as group winners.

Despite a nervy 1-0 win over Austria to kick off the tournament at Old Trafford, England eventually found their best form in Group A, annihilating Norway 8-0 before handing out a similar beating to Northern Ireland, this time 5-0.

Spain were their quarter-final opponent, and for all the world it looked as if England were about to be eliminated. Esther Gonzalez’s goal had given Spain the lead, but with just six minutes to play, Ella Toone popped up with the equaliser, before Georgia Stanway notched a winner in extra time.

The semi-final was a much more straightforward affair. England seized their opportunity with both hands, thrashing Sweden 4-0 thanks to goals from Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, Alessia Russo and Fran Kirby.

Date with destiny

The biggest test was still to come, with Germany awaiting England in the final. The Germans had won the tournament on eight prior occasions, and are the eminent force in European women’s football.

But by this stage, the nation had been gripped with Women’s Euro fever, and as the thousands packed into Wembley Stadium, there was a sense that this was England’s moment. One year earlier, the England men’s team had lost the European Championship final to Italy at the same venue — now there was an opportunity for the Lionesses to make up for it.

The game was closely contested until midway through the second half when Toone broke clear to dink the ball past the German goalkeeper and give England the lead. Cue the noise amongst the masses inside Wembley.

Germany were still up for the fight though, and equalised through Lina Magull with just over 10 minutes remaining.

In the end, substitute Chloe Kelly would have the final word, with her winning goal sparking delirium amongst players, staff, and supporters alike. England held on to win their first European Championship, and the Lionesses had written their names into English sporting folklore forever.