England won Euro 2025 after all three knockout matches went to extra time, two of them to penalties – but captain Leah Williamson says they were not “lucky”.
The Lionesses retained the European title they won on home soil in 2022 by beating world champions Spain 3-1 on penalties in Basel, the game finishing 1-1 after extra time.
They become the first nation to retain the women’s Euros since Germany won six in a row from 1995 to 2013.
It came after they also required penalties to beat Sweden in the quarter-finals, then won late in extra time against Italy in the semis.
“You know what? I don’t realise it yet. I am still in the stage where it’s ‘this is unbelievable’, ‘did this really happen?'” manager Sarina Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Very, very happy but a little strange. Just unbelievable.”
But while Williamson said there had been a stroke of good fortune in England’s run to glory at Euro 2025, she added they were not fortunate champions, but deserving ones.
“We have ridden our luck, but I don’t think we were lucky,” she told the BBC amid a party atmosphere on the pitch at St Jakob-Park.
“Total disbelief, but at the same time I knew it was going to happen. There’s always a moment when I think ‘right girls, let’s turn it on’. The way we defended as a team, nothing came through us. It felt like it was going to be our day.”
England led for just four minutes and 52 seconds in the knockout stage of the tournament – all of those coming after Chloe Kelly’s late winner against Italy.
All three of England’s knockout games went to 120 minutes – which has never happened in a major women’s tournament.
“England will fight to the very end,” said BBC One pundit Nedum Onuoha. “This side, if you don’t put them away, the quality will shine through right to the end.”
Spain’s players and manager felt that luck was not on their side in a final where they had 22 shots and nearly 65% possession.
“We tried everything, all the different ways, and then the penalties didn’t go our way,” Spain captain Irene Paredes told TVE. “I thought we deserved it more but in the end it is not about who deserves it.
“It is about having that bit of luck and England had that throughout the whole tournament. We thought we could overcome that but we weren’t able to.
“I think we had more control of the game than they did, we created more clear chances, we had more possession. But yeah, nothing else.”
