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Tom Hamilton
GENEVA — England manager Sarina Wiegman said her team’s run at Euro 2025 is like a movie as they grabbed a 96th minute equaliser against Italy and then booked their place in the final thanks to a goal right at the end of extra time.
The Lionesses left it late once again against Italy with Michelle Agyemang‘s late equaliser enough to force the match into extra time, and Chloe Kelly then converted the rebound from her own saved penalty in the 119th minute to steer England into the final with a 2-1 win.
It was the latest match-winner in Women’s Euro history, eclipsing Eve Perisse’s 102nd-minute goal for the Netherlands against France in the 2022 quarterfinals.
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After they needed the chaotic penalty shootout against Sweden to get through, England have led matches in the knockout stages for a combined five minutes. It’s been a remarkable run, and Wiegman said the way they’ve got through these two matches has been “unbelievable.”
“We’re going to make a movie some day! Well this is a movie, my goodness, it’s unbelievable,” Wiegman told the BBC. “Here we are again, it’s really, really special.”
When asked whether she’s enjoying the movie, she said: “When it finishes like that, I’m enjoying it but it’s a little bit dramatic.”
England again needed the bench to save them from elimination as Beth Mead, Aggie Beever-Jones, Agyemang and Kelly all made their impact in the second half.
“I don’t know if I make the changes at the right time,” Wiegman said. “We wait, it has impact, when we score we have to find a shape that also meant the tempo had to go down a bit.
“We thought we played well, got some chances, but the final touch [was missing]. That’s why we waited.”
Agyemang was yet again the star for England. She scored the equaliser against Sweden, and then saved the Lionesses from elimination with her finish in the sixth minute of injury time.
“She feels inevitable right now,” captain Leah Williamson said of her Arsenal teammate. “I think she’s quality. I think what she brings … she’s a nightmare to play against. I’m glad she’s my teammate at club and country. She deserves her flowers.
“I hope she gets them. hope she enjoys tonight, and then I hope she’s ready to go at the weekend.”
And Wiegman was delighted with Agyemang’s impact.
“She has something special,” Wiegman said. “She’s only 19 years old, she’s very mature, she knows exactly what she has to do. When you talk about little things that she picks up straight away, because she’s not only in the 18-yard box very dangerous but when we have to go to her as a target player, she keeps the ball really well too.
“Even when you saw her shot hit the crossbar, that was not just a shot, she was aiming for it. If she continues like this she has a very bright future.”
Kelly said of Agyemang: “She came on to the pitch and gave us so much more momentum. She gave us a lot of confidence and when a forward is doing that it’s special.”
For Kelly, it was yet another match-winning moment for the super sub. She scored the winning goal in the Euro 2022 final, and has again been a star off the bench at Euro 2025. Her impact from the bench helped England to their draw with Sweden, and she scored the winner to save England from yet another penalty shootout.
Post-match, she reflected on how she nearly gave up the sport in January as she sought an exit from Manchester City, but her form on loan at Arsenal — a team she’s since signed for on a permanent deal — steered her to the Euros.
“The moments in January when I felt like giving up football, makes you so grateful for these moments here today,” Kelly said. “It makes you enjoy every minute of that.
“Confidence comes from within but from around you as well. The players I stand side by side with on the pitch breed confidence in each other. But I think a lot of self-taught definitely happens. The people you surround yourself with, my family is really important to me and breed a lot of confidence within me.”
And she’s produced the goods yet again, to steer England to another major final.
“I just can’t believe what’s just happened — the belief in the squad, the resilience, the togetherness of this group is so special,” Kelly said. “I’m just proud to be English.”