It’s England vs Germany in the Women’s Euro 2022 Final
The final is now set for this Sunday at Wembley Stadium, with an expected record-breaking crowd for the Women’s Euros. The final at the 2022 European Championships is being held at Wembley, a sold-out stadium that will hold 87,200, with a game that may well mark a new record crowd for a match in the European Championships, male or female. Eight-time European champions Germany play England at Wembley for Sunday’s final. Popp scored her first goal for Wolfsburg, volleying in a cross from the right with her left foot. On the brink of halftime, Kadidiatou Diani’s effort hit the post before hitting Merle Frohms and bouncing into the net. Popp rose highest to powerfully head home a ball from the left as the Germans took back the advantage late in the second half.
The French defence was well-organized enough to prevent additional attempts, but they did give a number of potentially dangerous set-piece chances, which the Germans were unable to convert on in the first half hour. France suffered a brief slip in focus at the defence, and Germany took advantage in the 34th minute, with Popp barely beating her opponent in the middle of the box to fire home Svenja Huth’s cross. The second half began in much the same way as the first, with Germany looking the more potential on offence. France had two decent chances on goal denied in a matter of minutes shortly after the hour mark.
The Lionesses stormed into their first major event finale since 2009 with a 4-0 thrashing of Europe’s top-ranked team, Sweden. England had not reached a major final since losing 6-2 to Germany in Helsinki at Euro 2009, and it took half an hour for such a team’s terrier-like midfield trio of Fran Kirby, Georgia Stanway, and Keira Walsh to figure out how to shrug off some physical and sharp Sweden marking that kept the audience of 28,624 on edge. But Beth Mead’s sixth goal of the competition eased the tension before a Lucy Bronze header, a spectacular backheel from Alessia Russo, and a Kirby chip secured the team’s spot in Sunday’s final at Wembley.
Sweden supporters had been expecting their stars to strike at this European Championship with bated breath. With the exception of a 5-0 thrashing of Portugal, the squad called up in place of Russia; the Scandinavian side had seemed a ghost of the squad that embarrassed England in the World Cup bronze-medal match in 2019 and was a penalty kick short from Olympic gold in Tokyo previous summer. Anyone who dismissed Sweden would have been silly. Because while they haven’t played their best, Sweden’s occasional troubles in previous years have come versus slower opponents.
