Germany beat France to set up final with England

 

Euro 2022: Germany defeat France 2-1 to advance to sold-out women's Euro final against England at Wembley

Germany have set up what looms as an historic and record-breaking women's Euros final against hosts England at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. Tickets to the final at London's Wembley Stadium — with a capacity of 87,200 — are sold out. The stadium is the largest sports venue in the UK and second-largest stadium in Europe.

Anything near a capacity crowd for the final would comfortably beat the highest-ever women's Euros attendance number, which currently sits at 68,871 for the opening game of this tournament between England and Austria at Old Trafford.

The highest-ever attendance for an international women's football match is 90,185, for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup final between the USA and China.

Attendance and viewing numbers have been at an all-time high for the 2022 edition of the Euros, with that trend continuing in the two semi-finals.

The Lionesses' 4-0 victory over Sweden drew the all-time biggest crowd for a women's Euro semi-final, with 28,624 in attendance at Bramall Lane. The match also drew a peak audience of 9.3 million across BBC television and streaming services — the biggest audience for the tournament so far.

By comparison, the highest peak TV audience for women's football in the UK is 11.7 million, when England's lost to the United States in the semi-final of the 2019 Women's World Cup.

The semi-final between Germany and France then drew 27,445 spectators at Milton Keynes on Wednesday, the highest number for a women's Euro semi-final not involving the host team.

It continues an overall trend of booming attendance numbers for women's football in Europe this year, with 91,553 and 91,648 attending the Champions League quarter and semi-finals hosted by Barcelona.

This year's Euros tournament is also by far the most well-attended in history, with the previous total of 240,055 spectators broken during the group stages. 

90,000 at Wembley: 'To be honest, there's nothing better'

German captain Alex Popp was the hero for her side on Wednesday, after scores were level at 1-1 and both teams missing chances.

She had scored the opening goal for Germany in the 40th minute, but that lead lasted less than five minutes before France equalised. It was the first time Germany had conceded for the tournament.

In the 76th minute, Popp proved the difference again, leaping above the French defence to send a bouncing header into the French goal.

Popp has scored in all five of Germany's games so far — a new record — after missing the last two European Championships in 2013 and 2017 because of injuries.

Popp will now face off against England's Beth Mead with the two players the top scorers for the tournament, with six goals each.

"I can't find any words. We played a crazy game, we threw in everything we had," Popp told German broadcaster ZDF.

"We're now in the final against England in front of 90,000 at Wembley. To be honest, there's nothing better."

A late surge wasn't enough as France fell short of reaching what would have been a first major tournament final and has now lost in the semi-final stage once in each of the World Cup, Olympics and European Championship.

Before the game, Germany's players posed holding the number 19 shirt of winger Klara Bühl, who had started all four previous games but missed the semi-final following a positive test for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

The decider between England and Germany will be the first women's Euros final to be held at Wembley, with the stadium twice holding the men's final, in 1996 and 2021.