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- Lionesses defended continental crown
- Celebrated with fans in front of Buckingham Palace
- Penalty hero Kelly made sweary comment
Sarina Wiegman’s squad are back in London after successfully defending their European Championship crown on Swiss soil. They had to dig deep in order to make history, with defeat suffered in their opening game against France.
All three of their fixtures in the knockout rounds went beyond the 90-minute mark, with a chaotic penalty shootout survived in the quarter-finals against Sweden, before then seeing off Italy in the 119th-minute of a dramatic semi-final.n
A final showdown with Spain also went to spot-kicks, following a 1-1 draw, with Arsenal star Kelly – who famously grabbed the winning goal against Germany in 2022 – holding her nerve from 12 yards to convert the decisive penalty.
England have enjoyed a 48-hour party since then, taking them from Zurich to Buckingham Palace via 10 Downing Street, with thousands of fans lining the streets in London to welcome the triumphant Lionesses home and celebrate their record-setting achievements.
Kelly was among those invited forward to speak to the crowd on a stage in front of Buckingham Palace, with the 27-year-old saying: “Pressure? What pressure? It feels so good to stand side by side next to all these girls throughout the tournament. This is so f*cking special!”
Ex-England star and BBC presenter Scott, in her role as host, was forced to apologise for the foul language. Kelly added: “Everyone knows what it takes to win it, but it’s so hard to win it, it’s special to be here today. I am so proud to be English.”
Kelly filled a role of super-sub for the Lionesses at Euro 2025. She was introduced early against Spain, after seeing Chelsea star Lauren James suffer another injury setback, with the path cleared for her to etch her name even further into English football folklore.
