England against Germany in a European Championship final at a sold-out Wembley. Loved, hated, it is a tie that draws the attention of the host nation like no other, in any sport, in any arena.
Despite an at times scintillating display from France, who came from behind for the first time at the Euros, two goals from Alex Popp earned Germany a semi-final win to pit England against the eight-time champions on Sunday night and confirm a narrative that felt inevitable from the moment England and Germany topped their respective groups unbeaten.
The Germans were without their influential forward Klara Bühl, who had tested positive for Covid in the buildup to the semi-final, but a patient performance from the not infallible looking Germany denied France a taste of victory in the team’s maiden Euros semi-final.
The Germany manager, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, promised a footballing spectacle and had warned of the threat posed by France and the ability of the team’s players to “find good solutions to get out of pressure”. They are “really really good,” she added, almost as if to temper the expectations of German fans and the German media. In the buildup to the semi-final, newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung ran with the headline “Eight-nil” in reference to Germany’s eight European titles to France’s none.
“They focus on their play in transition because they have a lot of pace in their team and direct a lot of their attacking play down the wings,” said Voss-Tecklenburg.
“I had said before the tournament already that France, if they managed to live up to their potential, would be among the favourites to win this tournament.”
That was the narrative of many prior to the tournament’s kick-off in England. The France manager, Corinne Diacre, who collected her first cap in 1993 when her opposite number, Voss-Tecklenburg, had already lifted two European Championship trophies and would collect two more in the next four years, has proven divisive.
The decision to leave out the Lyon duo Eugénie Le Sommer and Champions League final goalscorer Amandine Henry would strip the sheen from their challenge and spoke to discord in the player pool available for the national team. Come the tournament though, the narrative has been very different. A swaggering fast-paced picking apart of Italy in their Group D opener suggested that perhaps many were writing off France too soon.
A dominant but wasteful display against the Netherlands forced them to extra time at the quarter-final stage where new Chelsea signing Ève Périsset’s penalty was the difference. That extra 30 minutes would be added to the two days of extra rest the Germans would be afforded before the semi-final.
In a buzzing Stadium MK, this was a chess match between the fluid French and gritty Germans, who have style up top through Lina Magull and Svenja Huth. It took six minutes for Germany to carve their first clear opening, with Magull springing the offside trap but the influential Lyon centre-back Wendie Renard recovered excellently to force her backwards and into taking a touch too many.
It was a frenetic start to a semi-final which promised as much and not much separated the two sides. Pauline Peyraud-Magnin did well to push Popp’s free-kick round the post midway through the half but she could do nothing to stop the rocket volley that flew past her with 40 minutes played – Huth’s cross turned in with some force by the foot of Popp for her fifth goal of her first Euros despite more than 100 caps.
Renard, who was stripped of the captaincy by Diacre but won the armband back, gathered her teammates in a huddle immediately. It was the first time France had gone behind. The reply was instant. Sandie Toletti found Kadidiatou Diani, who rifled a shot towards the near post which flew off the back of Merle Frohms and in – her first goal conceded at the Euros.
Germany edged the second half in terms of possession, but the threat of France was always lurking and in the 63rd minute Les Bleues twice went close. First, Diani beat her marker on the left and cut back to Selma Bacha who, in acres of space, forced a smart stop from Frohms, then Renard sent a powerful header goalwards from the resulting corner but Frohms blocked it on the line. France are yet to score in the second half in the Euros – with their winner against the Netherlands coming in the first half of extra time. Then, their profligacy would not prove too costly but at the Stadium MK they risked being punished.
After another handful of chances were wasted Germany struck, with Popp heading in to draw her level on six goals with England’s Beth Mead and put her team a step closer to a ninth Euros final.
France pushed for another equaliser, with Bacha sending a long-range effort narrowly wide, Grace Geyoro offside while sending an effort flying over the bar and Clara Matéo also putting the ball over.
There would be no upset though, with France not having scored more than a goal in their previous two games. Instead, the majority German crowd would be turning to their phones on the final whistle to seek out tickets to the final.
