Beth Mead hails her England team-mates after ‘not ideal’ penalty miss – and reveals ’emotional moment’ with Ella Toone | OneFootball

Beth Mead hailed her “incredible” England team-mates after winning Euro 2025.

England faced Spain in the final, a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final, however this time the result was different. The sides could not be split during the game, drawing 1-1, but the Lionesses eventually ran out victorious via a penalty shootout.

Mead said: “You can see how emotional we all were tonight, it was pretty incredible. We’ve dug very deep this tournament and we got our rewards by winning.

“It’s pretty incredible, I’m actually lost for words. To do it once but to do it twice is pretty insane.”

The tournament has been a rollercoaster ride for England, who relied on late turnarounds and last-gasp goals to reach the final. Despite lifting the trophy, the Lionesses did not take the lead during the 90 minutes of any of their knockout matches.

England’s number nine reflected: “We’ve gone behind in most games in these knockout stages and we’ve comeback, we’ve shown resilience, we’ve shown character and we’ve smashed it and we’ve won.”

It was Mead who stepped up to take the first penalty of the shootout. Although she found the net on her first attempt, she touched the ball twice after slipping and a re-take was ordered. Her second effort was saved, getting England off to a nightmare start in the shootout.

She said: “I didn’t plan on slipping and touching the ball two times. It wasn’t an ideal situation obviously but I’m just so happy with the girls getting it over the line.”

It was her Arsenal teammate Chloe Kelly who eventually scored the winning penalty. The winger also scored the decisive goal three years ago, in England’s 2022 Euros triumph.

Mead said: “I think she’s getting used to that (scoring the winning goal in the Euros final) isn’t she. It shows the character of Chloe to be able to do that in such a high pressure moment. Credit to her.”

It was also an emotional day for other reasons for Mead, who lost her mum in January 2023. After celebrating the Lionesses’ 2022 triumph with her, that absence was felt today.

The forward explained: “To be able to win back to back Euros, being able to share that moment tonight with Ella (Toone). We both had our mum and dad here last Euros, they’re not here today.

“We went straight to the stands and had an emotional moment with her mum and my dad. The feeling of being able to do that and the emotion that comes out.

“It’s not been easy, I’ve been in Ella’s situation. People scrutinise you but you’ve got so much going on as a person and as a human.

“To be able to go and win the tournament under the pressure that we have as England players is really incredible.”