Key events
With the news that Lucy Bronze starts tonight, she will break the appearance record for the Lionesses at a major tournament. Today will be her 36th appearance, all of them as a started. Absolute icon.
Peter has got back in touch to finish off his prediction:
James comes off. She’s tired.
Toone comes off. She tired.
Beever-Jones and Park come on.
Beever-Jones scores in the second half of extra time.
We win, 3-2.
We can revisit this in three to four hours time. If anyone else has some predictions you can get in touch via email.
The BBC using the ABBA song ‘the winner takes it all’ over the highlights of England’s sensational comeback against Sweden seems a bit cruel but also a bit funny.
It’s interesting that Sarina Wiegman has changed the defensive option after dropping Jess Carter for the semi-final. Esme Morgan had a good game against Italy but she is a good option from the bench. Spain’s Laia Aleixandri coming back in is no surprise but Barcelona star Claudia Pina dropping to the bench for Athenea del Castillo is. Pina has has an incredible season but Del Castillo injected pace into Spain’s attack when she came on against Germany.
The teams
The team news is in. England have made one change with Jess Carter back in with Esme Morgan named on the bench.
England: Hampton, Bronze, Williamson, Carter, Greenwood, Toone, Walsh, Stanway, James, Russo, Hemp.
Subs: Moorhouse, Charles, Mead, Lessier, Clinton, Morgan, Agyemang, Kelly, Kelly, Beaver-Jones, Park, Park, Warben-Moy, Keating.
Spain, meanwhile, make two changes with Athenea Del Castillo and Laia Aleixandri starting ahead of Claudia Pina and Maria Mendez.
Spain: Neck; Batlle, Paredes, Aleixandri, Carmona; Bonmati, Patri, Putellas; Caldentey, Gonzalez, of the castle
Subs: Sullastres, Nanclares, Fernàndez, Pina, Ouahabi, Martin-Prieto, L. García, Paralluelo, Vicky, Redondo M. Zubieta, Mendez
Peter Gartner has emailed:
How we will score.
In the first half and up to 70 mins, Hampton kicks a long one over the
top of the Spanish mid-field, to Russo, who passes to James, scores.From 70 mins, Kelly to Agyemang, scores.
Of course, Pina and Bonmati might have scored for Spain by then, once or twice.
Sounds like you’re going for a 2-2 draw there Peter. Any more predictions on how it would play out in extra time or penalties?
England’s Chloe Kelly is expected to be named on the bench once again but what a tournament it has been for the Arsenal player. To think she had struggled for minutes at the start of this season, forced a loan move to the Gunners and firmly put herself in the Lionesses Euros squad with superb form which helped Arsenal win the Champions League. In this tournament she has been one of the super subs to change games, along with her club teammate Michelle Agyemang. Big names. Big players.
A bit of team news from both sides before their starting XIs drop at around 3.45pm BST. Spain’s Laia Aleixandri is expected to return to the side after her suspension for the semi-final because of too many yellow cards in the earlier games. For England, Lauren James is a doubt after picking up her ankle injury against Italy.
An update from Baselthe rain has stopped but it is supposed to remain showery throughout the day. In case you wondered how the weather may shake out during this final.
Spain’s head coach, Montse Tomé, said:
We are a team, they are players that have been fighting, working, with energy and now they are able to focus energy on football.
I can sit here and answer questions about football – this has changed. This means a lot to me. It shows the change we are getting. Right now, for all the effort I think the squad deserves [to be] winning. In the elite football world it’s not always the case [that you win] but we’ll do everything to try, tomorrow.
Here are some pictures of what that fan walk looks like:
One of my best friends Hannah has travelled to Switzerland for the final and she has joined the fan walk to the stadium. She says Basel residents are watching them from their windows and Lionesses supporters are singing “heads, shoulders, Beever-Jones, Beever-Jones”. The only thing that isn’t gelling with the upbeat vibe is the rain, hopefully that stops before kick-off.
Suzanne Wrack
Leah Williamson says England do not want their legacy to be a “flash in the pan” as they prepare to defend their European title against Spain.
The Lionesses could make history on Sunday by becoming the first senior England side to lift two major trophies, while the captain could join an elite group of players who have tasted European success for club and country in the same year.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the Euro 2025 final where defending champions England take on world champions Spain. The game is a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final where Spain beat England 1-0.
In this tournament Spain have been dominant. So far they have scored 17 goals and conceded just three, winning all of their five matches. Last time out against Germany in the semi-final they faced their toughest opposition yet and it showed with the game sent to extra time and it took a special Aitana Bonmati goal to seal their spot in the final.
For England, meanwhile, it has been a more tumultuous competition. They opened their campaign with a 2-1 defeat to France but then blew away the Netherlands and Wales to progress to the knockout stage. It then took two sensational comebacks against Sweden and Italy in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively to give them a chance to defend their title.
So it’s a team who have had a relatively smooth ride against one who has had to fight tooth and nail to get to the final. Spain will be favourites, as they have been all tournament, but as Lionesses captain Leah Williamson says “the English are never done”. Team news will be dropping around 3.45pm BST so stay tuned.
