England surged through UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 final with a stunning semi-final win over Sweden.
Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, Alessia Russo and Fran Kirby all struck for England on an unforgettable night at Bramall Lane.
Sweden bossed the early stages but Mead’s sixth goal of the tournament just past the half-hour mark settled nerves.
READ MORE: England vs Sweden LIVE reaction from Bramall Lane
Bronze doubled the lead with a fine header early in the second half before super sub Russo brilliantly backheeled home and Kirby added sheen to the scoreline.
Sarina Wiegman has led the Lionesses to their third EURO final and thus ended a run of three successive defeats in major tournament semi-finals.
England will now face either Germany or France in Sunday’s sell-out final at Wembley.
The Sheffield atmosphere was crackling from the word go with the crowd of 28,624 a record for a EURO semi-final.
Mary Earps was called into action within seconds, making a stunning low save with her feet to deny Sofia Jakobsson.
The tempo was frenetic early on and England came close at the other end when Beth Mead headed narrowly wide from a Leah Williamson cross.
Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius twice came close to opening the scoring, first miscuing when through on goal and then striking the bar from six yards with a header.
England rode out the pressure and struck a crucial blow on 34 minutes.
Lucy Bronze recovered a loose ball on the right and found Mead in the middle, who took a perfect first touch and swept past Hedvig Lindahl to open the scoring.
Quarter-final hero Georgia Stanway broke purposefully from midfield and had several shots at the spectacular, taking the ball down on her chest and volleying over.
The Lionesses began the second half with bristling intent and doubled their lead within moments of the restart.
Mead’s high corner found Bronze at the back post whose bullet header bounced between bodies and nestled in the right-hand corner, sending Bramall Lane wild.
It was so nearly three on 56 minutes when substitute Alessia Russo burst down the right and fizzed perfectly across goal, where Mead could only graze the crossbar from point blank.
Peter Gerhardsson shuffled his pack with substitutions and Sweden stirred when Blackstenius’s inventive near-post effort forced Earps to claw over.
England continued to threaten and the ultimate icing on the cake was duly delivered on 68 minutes.
Fran Kirby broke through and cut back for Russo, whose initial effort was straight at Lindahl but she pounced on the rebound and backheeled impudently through the keeper’s legs.
Kirby got the goal her play throughout the tournament deserved as she latched onto a through ball and Lindahl could only spill her high effort into the net.
