A rematch of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final is on the way.
Aitana Bonmatí beat Germany’s Ann-Katrin Berger near post with an angled shot to the bottom right-corner in the 113th minute at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, to break a scoreless tie in extra time and send Spain to its first-ever UEFA Women’s Euro final.
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Berger appeared to expect a cross, making an uncharacteristic error in judgement near the end of an otherwise fantastic outing. Germany, which won six straight Euros from the mid-’90s to the early 2010s, had never lost to Spain in a major tournament. In the nations’ third such meeting, Spain prevailed.
Spain will meet England on Sunday (Noon ET, Fox), which is coming off a shocking, and controversial, win over Italy on Tuesday.
Spain dominated possession in the first half Wednesday, so much so that by the time it had completed 219 passes, Germany had completed only 39 passes. When intermission rolled around, Spain went into the break with 12 shot attempts, 10 more than Germany.
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Germany opened the match with great physicality and never really relented, an impressive feat, especially after playing with 10 players throughout most of regulation, and then extra time, during its dramatic quarterfinal win in penalties over France.
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Germany mounted a trio of fouls in the first 12 minutes of action, but the whistles were worth it. Manager Christian Wück’s squad seemed to rattle the usually clinical offensive operation of Spain, which entered the semifinal having scored 16 total goals in the tournament.
That said, Spain created serious momentum toward the end of the first half. Esther González — who came into the day as the Golden Boot frontrunner with four goals — was at the heart of the surge. In the 41st minute, she won a corner kick, which led to a threatening Irene Paredes header that hit the right post. González tried a bicycle rebound, except it sailed high and wide.
Minutes later, González made a run downfield. Patricia Guijarro found her, and González split Germany’s Sophia Kleinherne and Carlotta Wamser. That time, though, her left-footed shot from the center of the box was saved by her NWSL Gotham FC teammate.
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Berger, the hero of Germany’s quarterfinal win — and of the 2024 Olympics — recorded five first-half stops and eight total saves, the first of which saw her rise up and use her right hand to deflect a beamer from González over the bar. Berger’s final save of the opening frame came in its waning seconds, as she secured a Clàudia Pina shot that didn’t have the power necessary to find twine.
The halftime whistle halted Spain’s push and gave Germany a chance to reset. Germany came out swinging in the second half, matching its first-half shot total in just four minutes.
Still, Germany didn’t record a shot on goal until the 63rd minute when Klara Bühl’s attempt from the left side of the box was saved by Spain’s Cata Coll. Giovanna Hoffmann played Bühl into the shot, but Hoffman previously missed some critical chances of her own midway through the first half.
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First, after Jule Brand sent a cross into the middle, Hoffman swung and missed, affording Spain an opportunity to clear. Then, just three minutes later, Hoffman was barely offsides at the time of a brilliant throughball from Carlotta Wamser. Even if Hoffman wasn’t offsides, though, it’s worth noting that her 1-on-1 shot dragged wide of the cage.
Spain manager Montserrat Tomé subbed out González at the 68th minute, making way for Salma Paralluelo. To break the tie in regulation, Spain needed scoring from two-time Ballon d’Or winners Alexia Putellas and Bonmatí or anyone else in its lineup. Paralluelo had her chances in the late stages of the second half, but she couldn’t come through, either.
Germany dared to end the match in added time with two of its three shots on net in regulation, in succession.
Coll, showing she can go toe-to-toe with Berger on the other end, made a double save, first going off her line to track a deflection and then using her legs to stop a follow-up shot.
In what was the fourth of six knockout games in this year’s Euros to reach extra time, Germany and Spain traded opportunities. Germany’s Wamser rifled a shot over the bar. Spain’s Paralluelo threatened before Kleinherne cut her path to goal short with a challenge that came at a cost — she became the latest German player to suffer an injury in the tournament.
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Despite Germany’s fight, however, Spain proved too much to overcome in the second period of extra time.
That’s when Bonmatí scored her game-winner.
Here’s how the thrilling semifinal match unfolded:
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