England will contest their fifth major football final on Sunday after the women beat Sweden in the semi-finals of Euro 2022.
Following a shaky start for the Lionesses in which Sweden’s Stina Blackstenius hit the bar, Beth Mead, already leading the race for the Golden Boot, put Sarina Wiegman’s side ahead with a 34th-minute strike that took her to six goals for the tournament.
Mead then turned provider early in the opening moments of the second half, delivering a corner that was headed in by Lucy Bronze, before substitute Alessia Russo notched her fourth goal of these finals with a delightful back-heeled effort in the 68th minute.
Fran Kirby added the fourth with a chip eight minutes later and it could have been even better more for England, with Lauren Hemp having rattled the woodwork at 2-0, as they comprehensively avoided more semi-final disappointment after exiting at this stage at their last three major tournaments.
Here we look at the how England’s men’s and women’s teams fared on the previous four occasions.
1966 World Cup final: England 4 West Germany 2
Sir Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick powered Sir Alf Ramsey’s men to glory in England’s maiden major final on home soil at Wembley.
The two sides were locked at 2-2 and dragged into extra-time, until Hurst’s strike handed England the lead, in what still remain controversial circumstances.
Soviet Union linesman Tofiq Bahramov helped award the goal, insisting the whole ball had crossed all of the goalline after rebounding off the crossbar, but television footage remains inconclusive.
England went on and wrapped up the triumph, with Hurst lashing the ball into the top corner, met by the commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme’s immortalised narration: “Some people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over, it is now!”
1984 European Championship final: England 1 Sweden 1 aggregate score after two legs, Sweden won 4-3 on penalties
England reached the final of the inaugural women’s European Championship, only to fall short in agonising fashion in a penalty shoot-out.
A two-legged affair saw the first clash take place in Gothenburg, where the hosts won 1-0 thanks to Pia Sundhage’s effort.
Linda Curl dragged England back into the reckoning in a 1-0 second-leg win at Luton’s Kenilworth Road.
Curl and Angela Gallimore missed from the spot however, as Sweden prevailed.
2009 European Championship final: England 2 Germany 6
England’s women battled through to the final, edging out the Netherlands after extra-time in the semi-finals.
But the Helsinki showdown against Germany proved a step too far in the event.
The Germans hammered England 6-2, with Birgit Prinz and Inka Grings both scoring twice.
Karen Carney and Kelly Smith netted for England, but the Lionesses were overwhelmed and overpowered.
2020 European Championships final: Italy 1 England 1, Italy won 3-2 on penalties
Gareth Southgate became the most successful England coach since Ramsey by steering the Three Lions to the Euros final, rearranged for 2021 due to the pandemic.
Luke Shaw’s early goal had England in dreamland, only for Leonardo Bonucci to equalise in the second half for an increasingly influential Italy.
The Azzurri then inched through the shoot-out, with Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missing penalties.
