England 2 Italy 1: Euro 2025 tactical analysis

England produced another stunning comeback at Euro 2025 to break Italian hearts and reach the final. In doing so, head coach Sarina Wiegman has now guided a national team to a major final for the fifth consecutive competition – three with England and two with her native Netherlands.

Five days after their rescue act in the quarter final against Sweden, Wiegman’s England were again on the brink of elimination. Italy had scored with their first shot on target and first touch inside England’s penalty box, then doggedly held on to their lead. But the defending champions kept their composure and kept going, with Michelle Agyemang scoring an equaliser deep into added time. Then, with extra-time almost up, Italy’s Emma Severini was penalised for grappling with Beth Mead. Chloe Kelly’s penalty was saved, but England’s hero of Euro 2022 pounced on the rebound to seal victory.

How the managers saw it

“To be honest, I feel relief,” said Wiegman. “The first half we didn’t play well, we didn’t have the energy in the game. In the second half we did better, but of course they defended really well too, so when we were in the final third there wasn’t much space and there were lots of blocks. In front of the goal they were really aggressive and winning lots of duels.”

“The girls must be proud of what they did, resisting the reigning champions should give us so much belief for the future,” said Italy’s Andrea Soncin. “It deserved a different ending, after so many decisions that are difficult to comment on.”

Italy’s left inside channel

Italy mixed up their attacking play in the first half, sometimes playing direct from their 3-5-2 shape and mostly from the left. As England’s Lauren James tracked wing-back Lucia Di Guglielmo, Italy’s left centre-back Elena Linari stepped around the isolated press of Alessia Russo and played long passes forward. Italy’s number eights Arianna Caruso and Barbara Bonansea ran forward early, with the latter working well off targeted play into, or around, Cristiana Girelli (below).

Italy’s shorter combinations in the left inside channel also involved Girelli dropping and Bonansea making forward runs. Single pivot Manuela Giugliano was superb at managing the tempo, in particular maintaining passing rhythm into this channel (below). As a result, England’s back line were unsure whether to follow Girelli and leave space in behind, or hold but allow Girelli to link. Although Italy’s initial build for their goal came from their right side, it was fitting that Bonansea attacked the back post after running forward from midfield.

Breaking Italy’s block

England had more possession in the first half, but struggled to break through Italy’s block. Lucy Bronze’s advances from right-back were tracked by Bonansea, often resulting in Italy having a back line of six. This meant England did have a free central player at times, but they struggled to use them effectively. With James also moving inside to join the midfield three, England’s central players were often too close to one another (below). As a result, they did not stretch the remaining two Italian midfielders, or impact the three centre-backs enough. Lauren Hemp offered a penetrative 1v1 threat from England’s left, but was quite isolated in her attacking play, often crossing into areas congested with Italian defenders.

Beth Mead replaced James on England’s right at the break. Wiegman’s side made a strong start to the second half, as their very high back line locked Italy deep. Full-backs Alex Greenwood and Bronze supported their winger as England looked to overload Italy’s wing-backs. Centre-backs Leah Williamson and Esme Morgan were positioned high to help counter-press against Italian counter-attacks. One of England’s midfield also positioned themselves higher to work around Russo (below), as England worked as many shots in the opening 10 minutes of the second period as they did in the entire first half.

However, England were frustrated by Italy’s resolute low block. They had numbers centrally, but often chose to shoot from range and struggled to work the combinations needed. Although England’s positioning helped with regains and counter-pressing on transition, nullifying most of Italy’s second-half counter-attacks, it didn’t help them access an increasingly isolated Russo (below). She ended up moving wide right at times, which left England with minimal threat in the box. Hemp remained wide to attack 1v1 regularly, but at times was crossing to limited numbers.

Wiegman’s changes

After 75 minutes Wiegman added Kelly to England’s attack. Her ability to work the ball into the penalty area helped to pressure Italy’s centre-backs. From here, England had runners to support Russo, with Mead now attacking more centrally alongside Ella Toone. Hemp made runs from the left to add further numbers, with England now consistently penetrating Italy’s penalty area with quick but direct crosses and balls into their narrow attackers (below).

Aggie Beever-Jones and Agyemang were brought on after 85 minutes, replacing Russo and Williamson. England then finally broke Italy’s resolve when Agyemang landed on a spilled loose ball to convert from close range and send the game to extra-time. 

Further changes saw Hemp move to left-back when out of possession, but still hold the width when attacking. Kelly provided width on England’s right, with Bronze more reserved and deeper. Agyemang and Beever-Jones formed a high forward partnership, occupying at least two of Italy’s three centre-backs, working well to pin, hold and link the play with England’s midfield. Walsh and Toone supported the inside channels, linking the wide areas to England’s forwards, with Mead making central runs at times to make it three central forwards (below).

England dominated the first period of extra-time and, despite fading in the second half, completed another remarkable comeback. Their reward is a third major final in succession, having beaten Germany in the Euro 2022 final and lost to Spain in the 2023 World Cup final.

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