Football General Manager
Barbara Bonansea handed Italy the lead in the first half, but Michelle Agyemang’s equaliser in the 96th minute helped England to take the game to extra-time. After a gruelling battle of 119 minutes, the Lionesses finally netted the winning goal courtesy of Chloe Kelly’s penalty rebound strike as they kept their hopes alive of defending the European Championship title.
With the victory in the last-four stage, England boss Wiegman became the first manager in the history of men’s or women’s football to reach five consecutive major finals. With the Netherlands, the 55-year-old reached the final of the 2017 Women’s Euro and 2019 Women’s World Cup. After joining the Lionesses, the Dutch tactician guided the team to the 2022 and 2025 European Championship finals and also helped them reach the final of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Wiegman did, however, suffer disappointment at the delayed 2020 Olympic Games with the Netherlands as they exited the competition at the quarter-final stage after a penalty shootout defeat to the USWNT.
Out of the five finals she has reached, Wiegman has tasted success in the 2017 and 2022 European Championships, while she lost back-to-back World Cup finals with Netherlands and England.
England will aim to win back-to-back European championships as they will face the winner of Spain and Germany in the highly anticipated final this Sunday.
