Spain made history by reaching the final of the UEFA Women’s European Championship for the first time, with Aitana Bonmatí scoring the winning goal in extra time to break Germany’s strong defence in Zürich.
Spain knew they had to beat Germany, the most successful team in the tournament’s history, for the first time ever to keep their hopes of adding a European title to their World Cup win. Germany had the first big chance when a long ball found Klara Bühl, but her shot went just wide of the post.
Spain then began to control the game, keeping possession well as usual. Olga Carmona sent a cross into the box which wasn’t cleared, and Esther González struck a powerful shot, but it was pushed over the bar by German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.
Captain Irene Paredes made a vital block to stop a goal-bound effort from Giovanna Hoffmann, and she later came close to scoring herself with a header that hit the post. Spain continued to push before half-time, and González had another good chance, but Berger made another smart save.
After the break, Spain found it harder to break down the German defence. Germany stayed organised and dangerous on the counter-attack, and Bühl had a big chance to score but her close-range shot was saved by Cata Coll.
As full-time approached, Bühl had two more chances. First, her free-kick clipped the outside of the post, and in added time her deflected shot was saved by Coll, who then also stopped the rebound from Carlotta Wamser. With no goals, the match went to extra time.
Neither team created much in the extra 30 minutes, as both sides were cautious and trying to avoid mistakes. It looked like the match would go to penalties, but in the 113th minute Bonmatí found space on the byline and surprised Berger with a shot that squeezed in at the near post, sending the Spanish fans wild.
Spain will now face England in Basel on Sunday, a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final.
