Italy is considered to be inferior to their opponents. However, they took the lead over England with a goal by Barbara Bonansea. It was not until the 90+6 minute that England equalized 1-1 after a goal by Michelle Agyemang. In the 119th minute, Kelly scored the decisive goal to help England successfully reverse the situation.
This result helped the England women's team enter the EURO finals for the fourth time after 1984, 2009, 2022. Their record is equal to the Swedish women's team and is only behind the German women's team (9 times in the final) and Norway (6 times).
Chelsea Chelsea became England's 11th goalscorer at EURO Women's 2025, a new record for the tournament. Kelly's only previous goal at the women's EURO was the decisive goal in the 2022 final.
Sarina Wiegman still maintains her mark of reaching the finals of every EURO women's tournament (2017, 2022, 2025) and the FIFA Women's World Cup (2019, 2023), where she holds the position of head coach of the Netherlands and England women's teams.
The last time Italy had to play extra time was at the women's EURO in 1993, when they beat Germany on penalties in the semi-finals. In contrast, four of England's five women's EURO knockout games under Wiegman in 2017 and 2022 have lasted more than 90 minutes.
With this achievement, the England women's team will meet the winner of the Spain vs Germany final. After the win over Italy, coach Sarina Wiegman could not hide his emotions.
She shared: "The match took place like a whirlwind. We have had to make a lot of effort. They took a 1-0 lead and you know, the match was very difficult for us because they are a very strong and good team, playing well and defending very well. At the same time, they are very dangerous in counter-attacks.
The equaliser came to us very late, but I think we deserved that goal. But the problem is not getting it, it's scoring. In extra time, with the penalty, we were a bit lucky that Kelly converted successfully after the rebound, but of course, that is very welcome.
Meanwhile, Chloe Kelly - the player who scored the decisive goal for England emphasized that the match took place like a movie that made everyone hold their breath and get nervous. She is proud to be a part of the England women's team, having qualified for the third consecutive major final after EURO 2022, World Cup 2023.
