Hannah Hampton and Chloe Kelly were the heroes again as England came from behind once more to beat Spain on penalties and retain the European Championship.
England were perhaps second best in terms of quality again, this time against pre-tournament favourites Spain, but not for the first time in Switzerland this summer they found a way to win.
After weathering 22 Spain shots over the course of 120 minutes, including a wonderfully well-worked Mariona Caldentey opener, England capitalised on Alessia Russo’s second-half equaliser to drag the game to penalties.
The Lionesses made an awful start to the shoot-out when Beth Mead was made to retake a scored penalty due to an inadvertent double touch, with excellent Spain keeper Cata Coll making the save.
But Hampton matched her counterpart glove for glove, keeping out Caldentey and the exceptional Aitana Bonmati, who had started to pull the strings against a tiring England in extra-time.
When Coll produced a stop from England captain Leah Williamson there was an opportunity for Spain to level the shoot-out scores but substitute Salma Paralluelo, who missed a number of presentable chances during the game, fired wide of the post.
Kelly, the hero not only in the semi-final victory over Italy but the scorer of the extra-time goal which crowned England champions against Germany in 2022, stepped up to shoulder the hopes of the nation yet again and dispatched a glorious effort past Coll.
She didn’t even need a rebound this time. England are European champions again. Sarina Wiegman cannot be stopped.
The England manager, who has reached five consecutive major finals and won the European Championship three times in a row, made only one change to her starting line-up but Jess Carter, who replaced Esme Morgan in defence, was exceptional.
She and her teammates needed to be as Spain predictably dominated the ball, with Hampton saving from Esther Gonzalez early on.
Lauren Hemp almost drew first blood when England’s counter-press forced a turnover in the Spain area but Coll was equal to the near-post shot.
It was Spain who struck first when Bonmati and Ona Battle combined gloriously to set up Caldentey’s header; England perhaps feared the worst when Lauren James was forced off through injury having clearly been struggling with an issue almost from kick-off.
Kelly was always likely to be introduced soon enough with England chasing an equaliser, and though her introduction was earlier than planned it was no less influential than hoped.
She immediately made an impact in helping stretch the Spain defence and her sumptuous ball in shortly before the hour mark was expertly headed home by Russo.
Coll had to be sharp to keep out another Kelly effort soon after as England grew in confidence, but Spain came out the other side and their technical superiority started to show.
Not even Breakout Star Michelle AGYEMANG could turn that tide for England, whose final shot of eight came in the 69th minute.
Yet some heroic rear-guard action – and poor finishing from Paralluelo in particular – carried England into another shoot-out with the trophy in the balance.
The quality of efforts from 12 yards was far superior in comparison to the quarter-final victory over Sweden and ultimately it was Kelly again, with the biggest helping hand from Hampton, who carried England to a first-ever tournament win on foreign soil.
“I am so proud of this team. So grateful to wear this badge. So proud to be English,” Kelly told BBC Sport after the game.
“I was cool, I was composed. I knew I was going to hit the back of the net. I don’t miss penalties twice.
“Unbelievable. All the staff behind us and Sarina Wiegman – she has done it again! Unbelievable.
“It is going to be crazy. I hope the whole of England comes out to support us and shows their love to these girls as they deserve it.”
