The team's path to Wembley began with a cautious 1-0 victory over Austria, but it quickly picked up steam with an 8-0 triumph over Norway before Northern Ireland was eliminated with a score of 5-0. England's prize for finishing first in their group was a quarterfinal matchup with Spain. Wiegman's team was on the verge of losing the tournament when Spain took the lead through Esther Gonzalez.
Georgia Stanway scored a fierce long-range goal in extra time to advance the tournament's hosts to the semifinals, but Ella Toone emerged as England's hero by equalizing in the 84th minute. The Lionesses, despite facing the second-ranked Sweden team in the world in the semifinals, managed to lead by one goal at halftime thanks to a Beth Mead goal after a shaky start. Three minutes after the restart, Lucy Bronze increased the lead. Alessia Russo then added a third goal with a daring backheel, and Fran Kirby added her second goal of the competition to complete a 4-0 victory.
The focus will now shift to Sunday's championship game, where England will attempt to become just the fifth different team to take home the trophy. The Lionesses also hope to atone for the 6-2 loss they suffered to Germany in their previous participation in the European Championship final in 2009.
