The Current: England beats Spain in a penalty shootout after
BASEL, Switzerland( AP)– Defending champion England has actually won the Women’s European Championship after defeating Spain in the final.The match in Basel was a repeat of the 2023 World Cup last where Spain defeated the Lionesses 1-0. Ad Coincidentally
, the very same nations
played in the males’s European Championship final last year. Spain won that match 2-1. Here’s the latest: England wins on charges England has defended its European title by defeating Spain in a penalty shootout.The game was tied at 1-1 after extra time.England won the shootout 3-1 with Chloe Kelly scoring the winning charge kick.Extra time It’s 1-1 at full-time and the players are coming off the pitch for a fast break.Then it’s extra time: 2 times 15 minutes to break the deadlock.England equalizer England matched when Alessia Russo made it 1-1 in the 57th minute.Advertisement Chloe Kelly whipped among her hallmark crosses into the box from the left and Russo increased above the defense to make it 1-1. Spain leads 1-0 at
halftime Spain heads into the break in the lead after Mariona Caldentey’s goal in the 25th. Both teams
traded early blows but Spain looked more powerful after the goal.La Roja kept most of the possession and did not allow England to threaten much.England likewise
trailed at halftime
in the quarterfinal versus Sweden and semifinal versus Italy, but still
won both games.Spain takes the lead Mariona Caldentey has actually made it 1-0 for Spain in the 25th minute.Ona Batlle whipped in a cross from the right, after good work by Aitana Bonmati, and Caldentey headed it strongly home.Advertisement Closing ceremony Swiss former player Lara Dickenmann carried the prize out onto the field after the closing event of Euro 2025.
A large circular banner
was unfurled in the center of the field in homage to the host country,
while smaller sized banners were shown close by with”Thank You “in Switzerland’s 4 official languages– Italian, French, German, and Romansh.Two big
Alpine-inspired shapes were then carried
onto the field, with the England flag on one and Spain’s on the other.Nearly 30,000 inflatable clappers had actually been distributed to the fans ahead of time, while 40 members of the closing ceremony cast also had them on the field.Advertisement The Asturia Quartet, an all-female string ensemble, performed the national anthems.Del Castillo begins for Spain In rather of a surprise change, Athenea Del Castillo has actually been called
in Spain’s beginning lineup in place of Claudia Pina.Del Castillo’s only other start in the competition remained in the last group-stage match, versus Italy, when lots of routine starters were rested with Spain currently through.The Real Madrid forward scored one and set up another. She also scored the opener
in the quarterfinal
win versus Switzerland just 4 minutes after coming onto the field.Pina was decisive the last time Spain played England, scoring twice to help her team to a 2-1 return success in the Nations League last month.Advertisement The only other modification to Spain’s lineup from its semifinal victory over Germany is the return of defender Laia Aleixandri from suspension, with María Méndez dropping back down to the bench.Spain’s lineup: Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Aleixandri, Olga; Bonmatí, Patri, Putellas; Mariona
, González, Del Castillo.James is back for England Lauren James has recuperated from injury and begins for England with coach Sarina Wiegman making just one change.James had to come off at halftime in England’s semifinal success over Italy on Tuesday with an ankle issue and was seen using ice to her injury during the match.Advertisement James has actually started all 5 of England’s games at Euro 2025 and has actually been called in the lineup for the final.Defender Jess Carter returns after being left out from the beginning lineup for the first time against Italy, for tactical factors, 2 days after revealing she was the
target of racist abuse online during the tournament.England’s lineup: Hampton; Bronze, Williamson, Carter, Greenwood; Toone, Walsh, Stanway; James, Russo, Hemp.St. Jakob-Park is filling Basel’s soccer arena has a capability of 34,250 during Euro 2025 and no empty seats are anticipated at the final.
With an hour to go until kickoff, thousands of fans have actually already taken their seats.Advertisement Even before the final, the tournament has actually broken the total presence record for a Women’s European Championship.
A total of 623,088 viewers have actually gone to the 30 matches up until now, going beyond the previous overall participation record of 574,875 from Euro 2022.
Skies clean up after heavy rain in Basel There have actually been periodic torrential showers and thunderstorms but that has not dampened the spirits of thousands of Spanish and England fans that have been collecting in the fan zones in Basel.The rain teemed down about two hours before kickoff but the sun came out soon afterward and the skies above St. Jakob-Park have cleaned up for now.Advertisement Defending champs did it the hard way England got off to a rough start with a 2-1 defeat to France, ending up being the very first reigning champion to lose its opening match at a ladies’s Euros. The team got better with a 4-0 victory over the Netherlands and a 6-1 knocking of
Wales.Then came the craziness of its quarterfinal versus Sweden when it was tracking 2-0 with 12 minutes to go before equalizing and taking the match to extra time and a penalty shootout. There were nine failed penalty attempts before England lastly thrived 3-2.
England left it even later on in its semifinal
versus Italy. Teen Michelle Agyemang leveled in blockage time to force extra time and fellow substitute Chloe Kelly scored in the 119th minute to secure a 2-1 win, simply as it appeared another penalty shootout was looming.Advertisement(Nearly
)smooth cruising for Spain swept through the group phase, winning all three matches against Portugal, Belgium and Italy– scoring 14 goals and conceding three.Spain discovered it harder to get
previous Switzerland in the quarterfinals but finally broke
the resistance of the host nation with two quickfire goals midway through the second half. Spain also missed out on 2 charges and hit the woodwork 3 times.Like England, its semifinal lasted 120 minutes. It took a moment of magic from two-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí in
the 113th minute to secure a 1-0 win over Germany. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer