As the dust settles on a memorable tournament for the ages, here is a look at five thrilling matches across UEFA Women’s Euro 2025.
Across 31 matches, there were plenty of drama, red cards and 106 goals which meant that there were plenty of matches to choose from if looking for the best game of the tournament.
Five games however stood out from the rest in terms of entertainment even if most of those were emotional wringers packed with quality and excellent goalkeeping.
Sweden 2-2 (AET) England (England win 3-2 on penalties)
Simply not a game for the faint-hearted nor the UK as a whole because it had all the emotional wringers that the country came to associate with Andy Murray’s five-set thrillers in tennis this century, never mind England’s track record with penalties.
Sweden blew the Lionesses away for much of that Quarter-Final with their front-footed aggressive football and first-half goals from Kosovare Asllani and Stina Blackstenius, before Lucy Bronze’s header and Michelle Agyemang’s first senior tournament goal brought England level late on.
Extra time continued to prove nervy but nobody anticipated the penalty shootout which followed as both teams produced a topsy-turvy battle, in which Jennifer Falk blasted a howler over the bar with the kick which could of sent Sweden through to the semi-finals.
Eventually it came down to a tough replica miss from 18-year-old Smilla Holmberg to see England past the Swedes in a shootout where nine of 14 penalties were saved in total.
The entire match though was a pure heartstopper in terms of emotional adrenaline and nerves and that is just for those who watched at home, never mind those in the stands or dugouts as England’s Hannah Hampton made a series of cracking saves to keep the champions in the game.
England 2-1 (AET) Italy
Thankfully England’s semi-final victory over Italy didn’t get that far but they again made hard graft of the victory after loose defending gifted the Italians a deserved half-time lead through Barbara Bonansea’s effort.
England’s resilience and relentless second-half attack eventually struck lucky in injury time against a stubborn Italian defensive display, as Agyemang spared the Lionesses’ blushes with a lucky strike from Laura Giulliani’s sloppy clearance.
Hampton though kept England in the tie for much of the second half and extra time with great saves, before Chloe Kelly netted a 119th-minute winner on the rebound after her penalty had been saved following a foul from Emma Severini on Beth Mead.
The result ultimately summed up England’s resilience and ‘down but not out’ attitude because they could of easily wilted after conceding the opener for the second successive match.
From an English perspective, it was also nice to see Italy get a taste of their own Women’s Euro medicine in this fixture as they had won the two previous clashes by 2-1 results after conceding first – yet on this occasion it was England who won by that result from behind.
Spain 6-2 Belgium
Having came from behind to win at home in the Nations League previously this year, Spain knew that Belgium were no pushovers in a cracking Group B contest which saw Alexia Putellas and Irene Paredes twice put the world champions in front either side of Justine Vanhaevermaet’s first-half equaliser.
Hannah Eurlings pulled Belgium level shortly after half-time yet Spain proved why they were title favourites with a ruthless second-half attacking display, where they turned on the intensity and flair to win 6-2 as Esther Gonzalez, Mariona Caldentey, Claudia Pina and Putellas settled the contest.
The result also meant that Spain secured qualification for the knockout stages, whilst Belgium were eliminated at the group stage.
France 1-1 (AET) Germany (Germany win 6-5 on penalties)
Down to ten women after Kathrin Hendrich’s 13th-minute red card and having conceded from a 15th-minute penalty scored by France’s Grace Geyoro – albeit a week after their shock 4-1 Group C defeat to Sweden, Germany could of easily suffered another collapse and ended their campaign at the Quarter-Finals stage.
Instead the eight-time winners dug in with a well-executed equaliser from Sjoeke Nusken and excitingly resilient defensive display against a wasteful French team, in which Ann-Katrin Berger proved to be Germany’s saviour with multiple stunning saves – including a 103rd-minute flap to prevent a headed own-goal from Janina Minge.
Berger ultimately proved the hero as she denied Alice Sombath in the shootout to clinch Germany’s place in the semi-final, where a momentary switch-off from her cost them a place in the final as Aitana Bonmati struck a low extra-time winner for Spain.
England 1-1 (AET) Spain (England win 3-1 on penalties)
Having beaten England in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final and been title favourites from the first whistle of the tournament, Spain stood on the cusp of creating history in holding World Cup, Nations League and Euro titles at once ahead of the final.
Those hopes grew ever louder after Caldentey nodded in a 25th-minute opener as Spain survived early pressure to dominate much of normal time, aside from moments when England caught their defence high and forced Cata Coll into superb saves aside from Alessia Russo’s equalising header.
Wiegman though nailed her substitutions and tactics as England produced another defensive masterclass packed with grit and resilience as saw against Italy in the semi-final, which was rewarded with only the second final to be decided on penalties in the competition’s history.
England’s dreams of retaining the title could have easily ended after Mead made a double-touch on the opening penalty before a rule change permitted a retake, which was saved by Coll before Patricia Guijarro put Spain ahead with their first kick.
Alex Greenwood and Niamh Charles kept their cool in England’s following two spot kicks amidst misses for Caldentey and Bonmati, before Leah Williamson missed for the Lionesses, but Salma Paralluelo’s miss put England’s fate in Kelly’s hands.
Given that she had been the hero in the semi-final and coincidentally scored the title-clinchers at Women’s Euro 2022 and 2023 Finalissima respectively, there was a sense of hope as Kelly stepped up which turned to fear as she began her run but the shot ultimately found the net to complete the title defence.
Kelly’s successful penalty also meant that the Lionesses became the first English team to win a major title on foreign soil, even though none of their three knockout matches had been settled in normal time which underlined their unity, desire, resilience and quality to win the hard way.
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