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Germany head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg is expecting a “great football feast” when her side take on host nation England in the Uefa Women’s Euro 2022 final at Wembley Stadium.
Eight-time winners of the tournament, the Germans progressed to the final after beating France 2-1 in Milton Keynes. The Lionesses, 4-0 semi-final winners against Sweden in Brighton, will be going for their first major title.
There will be a crowd of up to 87,200 at a sold-out Wembley on Sunday – and Voss-Tecklenburg believes it will be an “incredible” final. “We look forward to this game, as everyone will do in England and in Germany,” she said. “We will be playing at Wembley in front of 80,000 or 90,000 people and most of them for England and against us but we understand that and we’re accepting the challenge. It will be a great football feast.”
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The England women’s football team were “once treated as a niche, an afterthought, an esoteric concern”, said Oliver Brown in The Telegraph. “Now, they are at the top of the Ten O’Clock News.” Tuesday night’s semi-final victory over Sweden was watched by an average TV audience of 7.9m – the country has “fallen in love with the Lionesses”.
Captain Leah Williamson has been one of England’s leading lights in the run to the final and she delivered “a performance of the very highest order” against Sweden, said Henry Winter in The Times. The Arsenal defender has been “a beacon of calm at the back” and has “set the tone with everything she did”.
Williamson insists that the players are now fully focused on winning the trophy. “It is about doing our job on the pitch,” said the 25-year-old. “That’s the most powerful thing, the biggest way we can contribute, and that is what we are focusing on.”
Wiegman’s toughest test yet
Sunday will represent England’s third appearance in the competition’s final, said Sky Sports. At the inaugural Women’s Euros in 1984 they were beaten on penalties by Sweden after the two-legged final ended 1-1 on aggregate. Then in 2009 they lost 6-2 to Germany.
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Should England triumph at Wembley it would also see head coach Serena Wiegman win the tournament for the second time in succession. She led her native Netherlands to victory in 2017. Since Wiegman’s appointment in September the 52-year-old has steered her team to a stunning 16 wins and only two draws, said the Daily Mirror. The England “gaffer” now faces her “toughest test since taking the top job”.
1. Kick-off time and TV coverage
Georgia Stanway scored England’s winner against Spain in the quarter-final
(Image credit: Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Sunday’s Women’s Euro final will kick off at 5pm (BST) at Wembley Stadium in London. The match will be shown live on both BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with coverage beginning at 3.50pm. Presenter Gabby Logan will be joined by guests Alex Scott and Ian Wright. Match commentary is by Robyn Cowen and Rachel Brown Finnis.
How the teams may line up at Wembley on Sunday, according to Uefa.com.
England (4-2-3-1)
Mary Earps; Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright, Leah Williamson, Rachel Daly; Georgia Stanway, Keira Walsh; Beth Mead, Fran Kirby, Lauren Hemp; Ellen White
Germany (4-3-3)
Merle Frohms; Giulia Gwinn, Kathrin Hendrich, Marina Hegering, Felicitas Rauch; Lina Magull, Lena Oberdorf, Sara Däbritz; Svenja Huth, Alexandra Popp, Jule Brand
3. Road to Wembley: the routes to the final
(Image credit: Getty Images)
England
Group A winners
England 1 Austria 0 (Old Trafford)
England 8 Norway 0 (Brighton & Hove)
Northern Ireland 0 England 5 (Southampton)
Quarter-finals
England 2 Spain 1 (after extra-time, Brighton & Hove)
Semi-finals
England 4 Sweden 0 (Sheffield)
Germany
Group B winners
Germany 4 Denmark 0 (Brentford)
Germany 2 Spain 0 (Brentford)
Finland 0 Germany 3 (Milton Keynes)
Quarter-finals
Germany 2 Austria 0 (Brentford)
Semi-finals
Germany 2 France 1 (Milton Keynes)
4. England player to watch: Beth Mead
England’s Beth Mead opened the scoring against Sweden
(Image credit: Dave Howarth/CameraSport via Getty Images)
There have been many standout performances from the Lionesses at these Euros: Alessia Russo’s impact and goals from the bench, Mary Earps’s saves in between the sticks, and captain Leah Williamson’s assured defensive displays to name just three.
One of the players to really shine has been Arsenal’s Beth Mead. The forward has netted six goals so far in the tournament, including a brilliant opener against Sweden in the semi-final. The golden boot is “well within sight”, said Sky Sports. Mead has matched the record for most goals in a single Women’s Euros, set in 2009 by former Germany striker Inka Grings.
5. Germany player to watch: Alexandra Popp
Germany captain Alexandra Popp scored twice against France
(Image credit: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images)
With both goals in the 2-1 semi-final win against France, Germany captain Alexandra Popp became “the first player in the tournament’s history to score in five successive games”, said the BBC. The VfL Wolfsburg striker, 31, is “making up for lost time” after injuries, said Nick Ames in The Guardian. Alongside England’s Beth Mead, she is currently the joint-top scorer in the tournament and “could complete the fairytale” at Wembley.
6. Pundit predictions: who will win the final?
The Lionesses are going “from strength to strength” and have shown “no signs of being impacted by the added pressure of hosting the tournament”, said Matt Verri in the London Evening Standard. Germany have only conceded one goal all tournament “so it is unlikely to be the kind of comfortable win that England produced against Norway and Sweden”. But Wiegman has “transformed” the mentality of the side – “they are ready to go all the way”. A 2-0 England win.
Here we have the “finest” teams in the tournament going “head to head at a full Wembley Stadium”, said Michael Potts in the Radio Times. “It doesn’t get much better than this.” The game “really could swing either way”, and you “can’t rule out a demolition job from either team given their form so far”. Potts thinks this will come down to “one magical moment”. Prediction: England 1-0 Germany.
Finals are often “tight, cagey encounters”, said Greg Lea on WSN.com. At the final of the men’s European Championship last summer, England took an early lead against Italy but “failed to capitalise on it”. England’s women “will not make the same mistake”.
The “psychological power” of the home support will give the England players a huge boost as this final goes on and “fatigue starts to take hold”, said Alex Sarwar on The Stats Zone. “Therefore, in what should prove an unforgettable spectacle, consider backing England to end their major trophy drought and lift the Euro 2022 trophy.”
With “almost nothing” to separate the sides, we back the Women’s Euro 2022 final to “go down to the wire”, said Football Today. “Don’t be surprised if the winner is decided after penalties.”
7. Betting odds: winners, golden boot and first scorer
The bookies make England slight favourites to win the Women’s Euros ahead of Germany. According to Oddschecker.com the Lionesses are 7/5 while the Germans are 2/1. Alexandra Popp and Lea Schuller of Germany and Ellen White and Alessia Russo of England are favourites to score the first goal in the final.
In terms of the golden boot race, England’s Beth Mead is 11/10 to end as the tournament’s top goalscorer. Germany’s Alexandra Popp is priced at 5/1 and Mead’s teammate Alessia Russo is 66/1. Mead and Popp are currently level on six goals, while super-sub Russo has four.
