'I don't miss penalties twice' – Euro 2025 glory never in doubt for shoot-out hero Kelly

Chloe Kelly never had any doubt when stepping up to take the decisive penalty in England's Euro 2025 final victory over Spain, despite having a spot-kick saved against Italy just five days earlier.

England retained their European crown in dramatic fashion on Sunday, with Alessia Russo's header cancelling out Mariona Caldentey's opener in a tense 1-1 draw.

That teed up a penalty shoot-out, in which England were initially on the back foot due to Beth Mead being penalised for a double touch on the opening kick, then being denied by Cata Coll from the retake.

However, Hannah Hampton saved efforts from Caldentey and Aitana Bonmati, and though Leah Williamson was unsuccessful, Salma Paralluelo shot wide to bring up Kelly's crowning moment.

Kelly saw an extra-time penalty parried by Italy goalkeeper Laura Giuliani late in the semi-finals, only to pounce on the rebound for the winning goal.

But she was always confident her next kick would be better, and she fired high into the roof of the net to seal the Lionesses' second major trophy.

"I'm so proud. So proud of this team. So grateful to wear this badge, and I'm so proud to be English," Kelly told BBC Sport.

"I was cool, I was composed, I knew I was going to hit the back of the net. I don’t miss penalties twice.

"It's unbelievable. Not just the team, the staff behind us, 23 players and Sarina, she's done it again.

"It's going to be crazy, I hope the whole of England comes out to support us and show the love, because these girls deserve it."

England have won all four of their penalty shoot-outs under Sarina Wiegman, with their last such defeat coming at the 2011 World Cup under Hope Powell, against France. 

Kelly has scored the winning kick in three of those shoot-outs, and she also assisted Russo's equaliser after coming off the bench on Sunday.

England had 10 goal involvements from substitutes at Euro 2025 (five goals, five assists), the most on record at any edition of the Women's Euros (since 2013), while they only led for four minutes and 52 seconds throughout their three knockout games (including stoppage time).

Goalkeeper Hampton hailed their fighting spirit as she told BBC Sport: "No words. This team are just unbelievable, incredible. 

"We've shown throughout the tournament – we have that grit, that English blood in us. We never say die, we just keep going and we did that today.

"When Chloe stepped up, I turned around to the fans and asked them if we scored do we win. I completely lost track of what was going on.

"I can't believe it, I don't think it’s going to sink in for a while.

"Sarina said, 'This is England, this is our moment'. It was just one kick, that's what we did. They were better penalties than last time, let's be honest!"