Euros 2022 Quarter final - England v Spain

What a Euros it had already been for both sides, with emphatic victories in their group stages. The stage was well and truly set as both sides were among the favourites to win the tournament. The sun was shining in Brighton as Spain had a more dominant start to the match, creating more opportunities in the opening 20 minutes. Ellen White managed to bury the ball in the back of the Spanish net, but unfortunately for the Lionesses Lucy Bronze was in an offside position and interfering in play so the goal was ruled out.

With an intense but goalless first half over, it was all to play for in the second half, and there was even more action to be seen. 10 minutes into the second half Athenea del Castillo slotted the ball to Esther González who struck it past Mary Earps to take Spain into the lead. The following 40 minutes saw both goalkeepers make crucial saves as Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp had impressive attempts on target for England and Athenea del Castillo kept knocking at the door for Spain. Then when all seemed lost, Alessia Russo’s pass found Ella Toone and she hammered the ball into the back of the Spanish net, taking the match to extra time.

Extra time saw England score early, with Georgia Stanway picking the ball up near the halfway line, running with it to outside the penalty box and firing her shot past Sandra Paños. After a beautiful goal from England, they needed to spend the last 15 minutes defending their lead, something Spain made very difficult. The Spanish women were pulling out all the stops, unfortunately for them it was not enough. The final whistle went after a nervy additional added 4 minutes for England and the Brighton stadium irrupted.