England vs Sweden penalties live: Lionesses survive penalty shootout scare to progress at Euro 2025 | OneFootball

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Now everything changes at Euro 2025 – but will we see a different England?

England reached the semi-finals of Euro 2025 after a thrilling quarter-final against Sweden with Lucy Bronze scoring the decisive spot kick in a penalty shootout.

The Lionesses began the match in the worst possible way as Kosovare Asllani sent Sweden ahead inside the opening two minutes before Stina Blackstenius doubled their lead in the first half as Sarina Wiegman’s side were punished for their defensive sloppiness.

Changes were made by the coach and the introduction of Chloe Kelly was the turning point with the Arsenal forward providing two assists as Bronze and Michelle Agyemang, another substitute, score late in the game to force extra-time and penalties.

The shootout was low on quality with both goalkeepers on top form. Bronze rattled one down the middle to put England ahead at 3-2 and Hannah Hampton’s heroics ensured England’s title defence goes on.

Pinned

England’s gritty resolve overshadows familiar frailties in Euro 2025 penalty shootout triumph

It’s an image that could go down in England folklore, albeit after a performance - bar maybe a total of three minutes - that won’t quite be written into history. Certainly not with any great affection. Following a series of absurd misses, in what might well have been one of the worst penalty shoot-outs in football history, a hobbling Lucy Bronze ripped off her strapping, and strode forward. An astonishing eight of the 12 previous penalties had been squandered. Some had been squandered in scarcely believable fashion, the emotional momentum of the shoot-out veering as wildly as some of the attempts. So, Bronze just smashed it straight into the roof of the net.

It was a decisiveness that had been missing from the previous 10 minutes, and most of the game. It also seemed to scramble Sweden one final time, as Smilla Holmberg became just the latest player to sky the ball.

This time, it was enough. Bronze’s force had driven England into the semi-finals of Euro 2025.

England’s gritty resolve overshadows familiar frailties in Euro 2025 triumph

England 2-2 Sweden (Eng win 3-2 on penalties): A battered and bruised Lucy Bronze epitomised the Lionesses’ determination as she netted the decisive penalty to send them through to the semi-finals

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Miguel Delaney18 July 2025 00:10

'The little things make a difference' - Lucy Bronze

Lucy Bronze adds, referring to penalties and the tape she put on her leg in extra time: “I actually hurt my leg a little bit in the game, which is why I had to take the tape off, so I kind of changed my mind. That’s why I took it off because I thought I'm not sure if I'm going to hurt myself doing something different.

“Also I watched the goalkeeper in every single penalty and she dived quite early. Statistically in a penalty shootout it's quite risky for the goalkeeper to stand still and go down the middle. Also you’re more likely to win if you go first - winning the coin toss played into that. So yeah - I love maths.

“I've been around long enough. I need to know the ins and outs of the game. Standing a little bit in front, celebrating each goal, giving confidence to my team. All the little things can make a difference and for me it felt like it did tonight.”

(The FA via Getty Images)

Flo Clifford18 July 2025 00:00

'A rollercoaster' - Lucy Bronze

Lucy Bronze is next up. “Just a rollercoaster, both overwhelming, underwhelming at the same time,” she says. “Just a crazy game as an England player and I can imagine for the fans watching as well. I saw my brother right at the end, he was so excited, we probably put him through it, surprised he didn’t faint during the game.”

How hard was it to keep going? “Holding the team together in the first half was difficult. There was a few good chances they had which could have put the game to bed. Lucky for us we kept them out, Hannah did a couple of good saves, once we made our substitutes that’s when the momentum really came to us, got our two goals, changed the dynamic of the game.”

When she scored she kicked the advertising hoarding - is she okay? “My foot’s fine, I’m made of tough stuff. It was just frustration of how are we actually going to get the ball into the back of the net. Seeing it go in, a lot of emotion just came out in that one second.”

(The FA via Getty Images)

Flo Clifford17 July 2025 23:50

'Riding the storm' - Chloe Kelly

Chloe Kelly talks to BBC Sport and it’s put to her that this was a stressful watch. “Tell me about it,” she says, “we were just as stressed as the fans I think. We knew that we had to bounce back, we weren’t at our best in the first half but we knew that we were capable of doing so and we showed that, the girls coming onto the pitch did their job and executed it really well. It just shows the whole squad of 23, when you’re needed you take your moment and that’s exactly what the girls did tonight.

“I didn’t feel under pressure, I just wanted to create some goals for the girls and be at my best, and that’s what I tried to do and hopefully everyone could see that. I just tried to put the ball in the box and play to my strengths.

“There’s times against a top team like Sweden when you are going to be struggling a little bit, that’s football and especially against a top side, but it’s about sticking together in those moments. Even in extra time there were moments when we felt uncomfortable but it’s it’s riding the storm together and knowing that we’ve got resilient players in our team and we can bounce back from anything. We showed that tonight.”

What did they say going into the shootout? “I think we have belief, we worked hard on the training pitch even in penalties. We have experience of playing in a penalty shooutout in the World Cup in 23, we’ve experienced that in tournament football. There’s a lot of belief within us. It didn’t go as planned but we got the job done!”

Into the semi-finals... “Let’s go!” she says.