Sarina Wiegman said England never doubted Hannah Hampton’s ability after the Lionesses goalkeeper made two crucial shootout saves to help send England through to the Euro 2025 semi-finals amid remarkable drama in Zurich.
The Chelsea keeper, who was named as England’s new No 1 by Wiegman in May when Mary Earps retired from international duty, also made two vital saves in normal time to help England battle back from 2-0 down to eliminate Sweden.
“She didn’t have [any] doubters in our bubble. I think she had a very impressive performance,” Wiegman told BBC Sport. “She had some very good saves in the second half. She had one penalty on the right side that was an incredible save. Pretty big contribution today.”
Wiegman later added in her press conference: “[She made a] massive contribution to a very good team performance. The outcome was really good and how the team stuck together, but she had a big contribution to that.”
The England head coach also praised Lucy Bronze, whose header helped spark the second-half fightback. Wiegman added: “Lucy Bronze is just one of a kind, I have never, ever seen this before in my life.
“I’m a very lucky person that I’ve worked with so many incredible people and incredible football players, and there are so, so many, but what she does and her mentality, and how she did that penalty and the goal, at the far post, she gets it in the net. But that’s not what defines her. What defines her is that resilience, that fight. I think the only way to get her off the pitch is in a wheelchair.”
Wiegman admitted she had thought England were going out of the competition “about three times” during this tense quarter-final, but was clearly immensely proud of their comeback, adding: “This team is just incredible. They stick together.”
Leah Williamson, the England captain, admitted it was “awful to watch” the penalty shootout but praised her teammates’ “incredible mentality” to fight back and reach another semi-final. The Lionesses saw four of their penalties saved but still progressed with a 3-2 win, largely thanks to heroics from Hampton, having earlier battled from 2-0 down in the regulation 90 minutes to send the game to extra time.
“We don’t ever give up and we’ve said it before, we’re never done, we never believe that we’re ever done and the fightback, the quality to turn the game around and then stay in it mentality, just incredible,” Williamson said.
“I just feel really, really proud. That was awful to watch at the end. [Penalties] are the easiest and the hardest thing in the world.”
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Hampton produced two crucial saves in the shootout, first from Filippa Angeldal, who took Sweden’s first spot kick, and then from Sofia Jakobsson in sudden death, when Jakobsson had the chance to win the contest. Sweden also fired two penalties over the bar and Magdalena Eriksson struck the post as they missed five of their seven attempts overall.
Hampton, who was named as Uefa’s player of the match, said: “I think it shows that proper England is back. We’re getting in the right direction. Everyone would be putting their bodies on the line, literally, you can see that out there. Everyone is a bit battered and bruised.
“You know everyone has got your back out there and tackles were made when they needed to be. Players took it upon themselves to make sure that the team stayed solid throughout so if they had a bit of a niggle they decided to come off for someone else who they knew would be 100 per cent to go and make a difference because it was definitely a fine line between the result today.”
The Lionesses will face Italy in Geneva on Tuesday for a place in the final. The Italians are in their first semi-final since 1997, while the Lionesses are in their sixth consecutive major tournament semi.
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