England’s national women’s football team has reached its third consecutive major tournament final, showcasing resilience and determination throughout the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025. Under head coach Sarina Wiegman, the players have displayed incredible mental toughness in close matches. All this time, they had their backs against the wall, with marginalization and uncertainty as ever lurking near. Their history has a lot of close calls. All of this culminated in an exciting final head-to-head clash that had fans riveted.
England’s route to the final was far from smooth. It’s a well-worn cliché to say that this team has “nine lives.” Have they ever – just ask them how much of their energy reserve they’ve blown in their epic slugfests with France, Sweden, and Italy. Each game challenged them to step outside their comfort zones. Periodically, they completely lost the plot, allowing their opponents to run riot on the field. Even with these disappointments, England was able to survive, demonstrating an extraordinary knack for surviving tight spots.
Chloe Kelly has been a key player in this tournament, with her performance against Italy being her most important. As England faced the pressure of securing their place in the final, the team’s hopes rested on Kelly’s ability to convert a penalty kick against Italian goalkeeper Laura Giuliani. This single moment underscored the extreme tension and high stakes of the match. It highlighted Kelly’s transformation into one of Wiegman’s best “super subs” for much of the tournament.
Their collective on-field showing has often been the stuff of painful viewing experiences. England pretty much won the game just by making more passes inside their own half. They accomplished this with more possession than Italy. This striking statistic reflects a disturbing pattern of ceding control too readily. It underscores that decision-making in possession leaves much to be desired. Against Italy, Wiegman noted, “The first half we didn’t play well – we didn’t have the energy in the game… Italy were really aggressive and winning lots of duels.”
The team’s resilience shone through. Hannah Hampton, England’s sweeper-keeper, was key to their pulsating, tight victory over Sweden in the quarters. She provided incisive progressive passes into the final third, completing more in that area than all of central midfielders Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh put together. This speaks to the resilience and ingenuity that runs deep in this group, allowing them always to find a way to move forward against the odds.
Wiegman’s tactical brain has been key in seeing England through these tests. In answering those challenges, she made the necessary strategic moves and made her players believe they could win. After securing their place in the final, Wiegman expressed her feelings of relief and joy: “Here we are again, it’s really, really special.” Her willingness to keep a cool head in the heat of the battle has connected her with players and fans all over the world.
The final match promises to be another defining moment for the England women’s team—an opportunity to make history and potentially secure their long-awaited first major trophy. Wiegman’s belief in her squad is contagious. She confidently declares, “We’re going to produce a movie one day,” underlining their incredible run and the inspirational tale of grit that has developed during the course of this tournament.
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