She Kicks Magazine
·28 luglio 2025
How Hannah Hampton went from strabismus diagnosis to England’s Euro 2025 hero

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Yahoo sportsShe Kicks Magazine
·28 luglio 2025
Hannah Hampton lifts Euro 2025 trophy after crucial saves in penalty shootout against Spain
Hannah Hampton was once told that she may never play football again when she was diagnosed with strabismus – a condition that causes one eye to see differently than the other.
Hampton overcame all of her difficulties at a young age and she has now become one of England’s all-time greats.
When she was just a baby Hannah Hampton was diagnosed with strabismus. The Birmingham-born goalkeeper underwent three operations before her third birthday to fix the issue, but none were successful.
Strabismus effects depth perception, with the condition misaligning a person’s eyes so they see in slightly different directions.
After the failed operations, doctors advised Hampton to never play sports in order to avoid doing any further damage due to her vision.
But not even doctors could stop Hampton’s desire to play football. The England superstar struggled early in her career with various injuries as a result of her difficulties with depth perception.
Hannah Hampton suffers from bloody nose after collision in Euro 2025 quarter final vs Sweden
Even with multiple broken fingers due to struggles seeing how close the ball was to her, Hampton still wouldn’t give up.
Before the Euros, the 24-year-old said: “I think I’ve always gone through life trying to prove people wrong. I was told from a young age that I couldn’t play football, that it wouldn’t be a profession I could pursue – the doctors told my parents that.
“Finding that out made me more determined to reach the highest level possible. Playing sport was always my passion and my dream.”
Hampton rose to success at a young age and at just 22 she was signed by WSL champions Chelsea.
After being an unused substitute at Euro 2022 behind Mary Earps, Hampton secured a spot as England’s number one at Euro 2025.
Hampton had a huge void to fill after Mary Earps retired from international football before the Euros this summer.
Throughout the tournament the Chelsea and England number one proved her worth – with two penalty shootout wins the highlights of her Euros.
Speaking after the final, England’s humble goalkeeper gave all the credit to her teammates.
“It’s a special moment to say that I helped contribute in a small part of the game today. In 120 minutes, the team ran around and worked so hard for us all, so the penalty shoot-out was my moment to say thank you for putting in all the hard work and effort they did throughout the game.”
“It’s been unbelievable, incredible,” said Hampton. “We’ve shown during this tournament that we can come back when we go a goal down, we have that grit. We’ve got English blood in us. We never say die and we just keep going and we did that today.”
For her huge stops in the penalty shootout as well as some important saves during the game, Hampton was named player of the match in the Euro 2025 final.
Following her heroics at Euro 2025 Hampton is now just 7/1 to win Sports Personality of the Year according to the UK’s best betting sites.
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