Five things we learned as England pulled off comeback against Sweden to reach Euro 2025 semis

England produced a miracle in Zurich as they came from two goals behind to beat Sweden on penalties and secure their place in the Euro 2025 semi-finals.

A double salvo from Lucy Bronze and Michelle Agyemang late on put England back in the game at 2-2 before they triumphed 3-2 on penalties after a scoreless extra-time.

Here are five things we learned from the tense encounter…

READ MORE: England and Sweden will not look to the past despite historic match-up in Euro 2025 quarter-finals

READ MORE: Lionesses Diary - Day 16: Knockout stages arrive for England as Italy make history

Italy next up…

Believe it or not, after the 120 minutes of agony Lionesses fans have just experienced, England are through to yet another major tournament semi-final where they will face Italy.

It means they have reached that stage of every major international tournament they have competed in for the last 10 years.

They will travel to Geneva for their semi-final match up against an Italy side that enjoyed 2-1 victory over Norway in their quarter-final.

While Sweden looked certain to go through at half-time at 2-0 up, the Lionesses fought back with two goals inside two minutes with 10 minutes on the clock to salvage their hopes.

Clinging on through a tense 30 minutes of extra-time that saw captain Leah Williamson forced off the pitch with injury, Lauren James receive treatment and Hannah Hampton with a nosebleed, they took the game to the most agonising of penalty shootouts.

As Sweden scored just two of their seven penalties, England defeated them 3-2 as Lucy Bronze buried her sudden death kick before Smilla Holmberg fired hers over to confirm England’s progression.

Clicking into gear

Sarina Wiegman’s so-called ‘finishers’, or ‘the clicks’ after Beth Mead’s celebration against Wales, made all the difference on a warm night in Zurich.

The momentum shifted when the England manager opted to make a triple change of Esme Morgan, Michelle Agyemang and Beth Mead in the 70th minute, before the real difference maker entered the field eight minutes later.

With a proven track record of stepping up for England, Thursday evening was no different for Chloe Kelly who had an instant impact.

Just 63 seconds after entering the pitch, she delivered an inch-perfect cross for Lucy Bronze off the left and the experienced defender made no mistake to head home at the far post.

As England were firmly back in the game, Kelly continued to work her magic and combined with her fellow ‘finishers’ to bring scores level.

The Arsenal winger clipped the ball into the box off the left once more where Beth Mead nodded down into the path of Agyemang for her to sweep home and send the game to extra-time.

It was Kelly, too, who stepped up for a must-score penalty to keep England in the shootout before Bronze buried the all-important sudden death kick.

Once again, Wiegman has proven her tactical nous with the implementation of subs who can deliver game-changing impact at major tournaments.

Agyemang impact

Two goals in three England appearances is light work for 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang who produced on the biggest stage when it mattered in Zurich.

The young Lioness had been introduced earlier in the year at 3-1 down against Belgium, and come up with the goods to bring England back to 3-2.

It was all Sarina Wiegman needed to see to be convinced of her potential impact and Agyemang took no time in proving her right.

Introduced briefly at the end of the France match, she brought renewed impetus to an England attack that looked like they could have equalised in the closing stages given more time.

Against Sweden, Wiegman made sure Agyemang did have more time. Just 11 minutes after entering the pitch, the Arsenal striker had put her country level and made the decisive impact for the Lionesses.

"This is basically why we selected her. We know Michelle [Agyemang] hasn’t been in our environment for a long period of time but the moment she came in she did well and she brings something different," Wiegman told BBC Sport.

"She has shown that in training, she has shown that against Belgium, she has shown that against France. She is so strong and she scores goals."

Never write the Lionesses off

“We’ve said it before but we’re never done, we don’t believe that we’re ever done. The fightback and the quality to stay in it mentally is just incredible,” England captain Leah Williamson told BBC Sport after the match.

The Lionesses looked all but out of the competition at half-time when they found themselves 2-0 down having turned in a poor performance.

The defence looked open, Sweden dominated the midfield and there had been a distinct lack of clear cut chances upfront.

It would not be unsurprising if the FA admin had already been checking Skyscanner for flights back home.

In fact, no team has ever come back from 2-0 down to win a Women’s European Championship semi-final before.

But while no one else may have done, the Lionesses always believed they could turn it around.

“I’m just thinking about how this team turned it around again and how this team showed resilience. Sometimes we say we’re never done. Well tonight we showed we’re absolutely never done,” added Sarina Wiegman.

As they head to Geneva for the semi-finals, one thing is for certain, you cannot write the Lionesses off.

England defensive worries

Lionesses fans in the Stadion Letzigrund may well have been having flashbacks to the opening game against France as England’s defence looked lost in the opening stages of their quarter-final clash.

Jess Carter’s weak ball out from the back set the tone, as it just made it through to Keira Walsh via a touch from Kosovare Asllani but the midfielder’s poor pass was cut out which allowed Asllani to capitalise and put Sweden ahead after just two minutes.

It was the lax passing the Lionesses had demonstrated in their opener and it took a while for things to improve.

Stina Blackstenius was able to exploit England’s lack of pace time and again as they struggled to control the Swedish striker.

In the 25th minute, she had her goal. Running onto a through-ball from Julia Zigiotti Olme she slotted home across goal and into the far left corner to send Sweden two goals ahead.

It looked as though they were home and dry as a result of England’s poor defensive efforts.

Leah Williamson was also forced into a last ditch sliding block on her domestic teammate after Hannah Hampton had given the ball away cheaply at the edge of her box.

While England survived this time, they will have to ensure these mistakes do not creep back into their game.