World Cup Rematch! Spain Beats Germany To Next Play England In Euro 2025 Final
Aitana Bonmatí scored in extra time to send Spain to its first-ever UEFA Women's Euro final with a 1-0 win over Germany on Wednesday, setting up a repeat of the 2023 World Cup title match.
A stubborn Germany performance had seen it take the world champions to extra time and Spain needed a superb strike from the two-time Ballon d’Or winner to secure a first-ever win over Germany.
"I feel so proud. We deserved this," Bonmatí said. "We have played a great tournament throughout. We had a hard fight tonight, of course, because we were playing Germany. First to beat Germany and then to advance to the final of the Euros. Who could ask for more?"
In the 113th minute, Athenea del Castillo threaded the ball through to Bonmatí, who got past Rebecca Knaak with a clever dummy and turn before squeezing home an audacious attempt from the tightest of angles.
"We had analyzed her with our analysts and our goalkeeping coach and knew that she would leave the near post unprotected, and that is what happened. I just slotted it home," Bonmatí said.
Spain moved closer to adding the Euro trophy to its collection after winning the World Cup and Nations League in the past two years.
Montse Tomé’s team will face defending champion England on Sunday in a repeat of the World Cup final that Spain won 1-0 two years ago.
England also needed extra time to snatch a 2-1 win over Italy on Tuesday.
Germany was bidding for a record-extending ninth European title but it was up against the world champion and pre-tournament favorite.
It almost surprised Spain early on when Klara Bühl ran onto a long ball from goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger but her angled drive went narrowly past the right post.
Germany managed to stifle Spain’s stellar attack, which didn’t have a