Spain's Aitana Bonmati struck a superb extra-time winner to fire her side to a 1-0 victory over Germany on Wednesday and send them through to the Women's European Championship final for the first time, where they will face reigning champions England.
Spain captain Irene Paredes struck the foot of a post with a first-half header as her side dominated possession, with the Germans building a solid block and inviting the Spaniards to attack while they attempted to strike on the counter.
Klara Buehl had a number of decent chances in the second half, including a deflected stoppage-time effort that Spain keeper Cata Coll had to claw away, but the game ended scoreless, forcing extra time.
Bonmati finally broke the deadlock in the 113th minute, picking up a ball in the left channel and spotting a gap at Ann-Katrin Berger's near post before whipping a shot from a tight angle into the net to send her side through to Sunday's final in Basel.
Days before the tournament, Bonmati found herself in a difficult situation. The Barcelona midfielder and 2024 Women’s Ballon d’Or winner faced a health scare, viral meningitis forcing her into hospital and disrupting her preparations.
On Wednesday, she scored the winning goal in extra time, guiding her team to their first-ever Women’s Euro final.
Spain and England will face off in Sunday’s Euro final in Basel, a rematch of the 2023 FIFA World Cup final where La Roja won 1-0 to be crowned world champions for the first time.
Spain will go into the final as favourites, as they have been all tournament, but the last team to beat the world champions were England. If the Lionesses turn up as they did that day, or how they did against the Netherlands in the group stage, we will be in for a great finale.
