There was yet more high drama and controversy as England overcame world champions Spain on penalties to successfully defend their European Championship title in Switzerland.
For the third match in succession, the Lionesses were forced to come from behind to secure victory after Mariona Caldentey opened the scoring for Spain midway through the first half at Basel’s St Jakob-Park.
Having been introduced from the bench in place of the injured Lauren James, Chloe Kelly further underlined her super-sub status as she delivered a pinpoint cross for Alessia Russo’s 57th-minute header to make it all square.
And it was Kelly’s spot-kick at the end of a nerve-jangling shootout that saw the holders get their hands on the trophy – three years on from their famous victory over Germany at Wembley.
Sarina Wiegman’s side looked have got off to a dream start in the shootout as Beth Mead sent Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll the wrong way from 12 yards, despite slipping in her run-up.
However, replays clearly showed that Mead had touched the ball twice before finding the back of the net, meaning she was forced to start over and retake her penalty – which was subsequently saved.
The Arsenal forward – England’s player of the tournament in 2022 – would have had her mouth as Leah Williamson’s tame effort was denied by Coll, with England holding a 2-1 advantage.
But Spanish winger Salma Paralluelo dragged her strike wide to ensure the trophy would remain with England, as long as Kelly was successful with her strike.
With fans watching through their fingers, Kelly nervelessly hopped her way to the spot before sending England’s travelling support into raptures with the decisive kick of the match to give the Lionesses an unassailable 3-1 lead.
The result saw Wiegman and Co, who become the first English team in history to win a major tournament on foreign soil.
Why was Beth Mead allowed to take her penalty twice?
Just last month, the law was changed on ‘double-touch’ penalties after Julian Alvarez’s spot-kick in Atletico Madrid’s Champions League last-16 defeat to Real Madrid was controversially disallowed.
Alvarez had his effort chalked off after slipping and making contact with his standing leg – and Real Madrid went on to prevail to book their spot in the quarter-finals.
Issuing a clarification to Law 14 in response, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) confirmed that penalties which had been touched twice would, from this point on, be allowed to be retaken in cases where it was ‘clearly unintentional’ – but only if the kick was successful.
‘UEFA will immediately implement the clarification provided by IFAB of Law 14 with regard to cases of double touch of the ball by the player taking a penalty kick,’ an official statement on UEFA’s website read.
‘Consequently, all UEFA matches, starting with the UEFA Nations League semi-final between Germany and Portugal on 4 June 2025 will now be played under the new interpretation of Law 14.
‘FIFA confirmed that this will be the case for European Qualifiers too.’
‘No, I can’t believe it!’ a near-speechless Wiegman told BBC Sport in the immediate aftermath of England’s triumph.
‘We said we can win by any means and that’s what we have shown again today. I am so proud of the team and the staff. It is incredible.
Asked whether she was shocked by to win the trophy for the second time on the bounce, she replied: ‘Yes, yes.
‘I just can’t believe it. I have a medal around my neck and we have a trophy.
‘It has been the most chaotic tournament on the pitch – all the challenges we had on the pitch against our opponent.
‘From the first game it was chaos.Losing your first game and becoming European Champions is incredible. Football is chaos.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.