Come on EnGALund! The roar for the Lionesses was deafening as they mauled Sweden 4-0 in the Euro 2022 semi-final.
Goals from hotshot Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, a cheeky back heel from Alessia Russo and a fourth from Fran Kirby secured a stunning 4-0 victory over Sweden.
The third brought a rousing rendition of “Football’s Coming Home” from the sold out 32,000 crowd at Sheffield’s Bramall Lane.
The South Yorkshire city embraced the football wholeheartedly with an incredible fan walk through Sheffield before fans descended on the fanzone in town or the stadium.
The Duke of Cambridge, who is president of the Football Association, congratulated England on reaching the Women's Euro final after beating Sweden 4-0, saying: "The entire country is so proud of everything you're achieving. We believe in you and will be with you all the way!"
In Trafalgar Square the crowd was celebrating and whooping as England made it through to the final.
Zuha Animashaun, 19, a student who lives in London, said: "It's coming home. The atmosphere has been absolutely electric. Scoring four goals is a bonus to that and it's been really good fun."
Student Freddie Lagesse, 18, who lives in Chiswick, said he "felt proud". "It's been really good fun. Everyone's been great and I'm so happy to see England represented."
Sam Duce, 24, who lives in London and works in telecoms, said: "It was great to see some long overdue support for the women's team.
Claudia Bruce, 24, from Leicester, said the victory was "huge", adding that "women's football has never been more supported".
Alice Potts, 24, from Leicester, added: "Russo's backheel goal was phenomenal."
But win or lose, fans from both sides agreed the real winner in this tournament is the women’s game.
Nurse Alison Cole, 40, in England face paint, said: “This tournament has done so much to raise the profile of the game in this country.
“You never really got the chance to play when I was at school, but now young men see footballers and think they can do that when they grow up and so do young women. England have been great and they are a joy to watch.”
Her partner Scott Oggelsby, 45, from Sheffield, said: “The women don’t foul as much, they are a good team to watch.”
Sweden fan Peer Jelendorf, 33, travelled from London with eight friends for the match.
He said: “We’ve really enjoyed the tournament. It is a beautiful game. It’s been really enjoyable.”
Sheffield city centre was buzzing all day, and fans packed into the Devonshire Green fanzone for the 8pm kick-off.
England took the lead in the 33rd minute as Beth Mead scored her 6th goal of the tournament, sending the fanzone crowd and the 32,000 people at the ground wild.
An estimated 2.3 million people watched the game in local pubs or restaurants, with supporters expected to spend £24.5million and down 3.4 million pints. The 11.4 million fans who watched from home were set to spend £78.1m stocking up their fridges with food and drink to enjoy the game with friends and family.
Sportswear sales are expected to hit £70m, with souvenirs hitting £2.8m and spending on TV and electricals reaching £1.2m.
Before the game kicked off, David Beckham sent a message of support to the squad, telling them the whole nation had been inspired by the 2-1 win over Spain in the quarter finals.
“Not just the girls, but the boys as well,” he said.
Abuzz with hope it's coming home
It was a cloudy day in Trafalgar Square, but nothing was going to overshadow the sunny outlook.
The square in Central London was abuzz with hopes of “it” coming home.
A sea of England shirts – and some Swedish ones – flocked to watch the game.
Nine-year-old Rachel Davey, whose favourite England player is Rachel Daly, says: “I’ve been really excited.”
The youngster is a midfielder in a youth team her dad Richard coaches. He reckons the Lionesses have had a huge impact.
Richard, 38, says: “A few years ago you couldn’t get girls to play football. But now there are so many girls who want to get into football. It is absolutely fantastic.”
Annabel Boshier and Violet Neale, both 10, play for the Lionesses in Faversham, Kent, and hope that one day they will be part of the national team.
Annabel is wearing a necklace with beads that says “Lionesses”. “I made this at home,” she explains. London Mayor Sadiq Khan is also in the crowd, and so are Peckham-based cousins Nadia Haid, 21, Iman Hashi, 25, and Amira Mohamoud, 21.
The trio arrived in the square at 2pm to ensure they didn’t miss the match.
Iman, a primary school teaching assistant, says: “It’s not recognised as much as the men, so it’s great that there’s such a big crowd to support the women.”
Whatever happens next, the tournament has been a success for women’s football across the country.
