With five of our players involved across both sides, Tuesday night's Euro 2022 semi-final between England and Sweden is sure to be a game to remember.
With a place in Sunday's final at Wembley Stadium up for grabs, captain Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Nikita Parris and Beth Mead are all representing the Lionesses, while the in-form Stina Blackstenius will be hoping to cause an upset against her Arsenal teammates.
Where can I watch it?
The game is set to take place at Bramall Lane with kick-off at 8pm (UK time).
In the UK, the match will be televised live on BBC One with coverage starting at 7.25pm. You can also follow the match live on BBC iPlayer.
The story so far
Starting with the hosts, England’s Euros campaign so far is one that will live long in the memory, regardless of the result of the semi-final.
After a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Austria in their opening group stage fixture, Sarina Wiegman’s side played some outstanding attacking football against Norway and Northern Ireland, scoring eight and five respectively without reply.
That saw the Lionesses become the first team in Euros history to score 14 group stage goals, overtaking Germany's previous landmark of 11 in 2001 - and it has to be said that Williamson and Mead were right at the heart of those scintillating performances.
With three consecutive clean sheets, Williamson marshalled the defence with her usual calm and composed style, dictating play with her outstanding passing range. Against Northern Ireland, Williamson completed 117 passes - a record for the tournament so far.
As for Mead, the numbers speak for themselves. The Lionesses' hotshot finished the group stage as both the tournament’s top scorer (five) and top assist provider (3), smashing countless records along the way. She’s now just one goal away from becoming only the second player to score six goals in a single Euros campaign after Germany's Inka Grings in 2009.
In the quarter-finals, England were handed their toughest test against a Spain side stacked with technical ability. The visitors enjoyed the greater share of possession and even took the lead in the second half, but some inspired tactical changes from Wiegman saw her side complete a dramatic late comeback to book their place in the final four.
Sweden, however, have been more of a slow burner throughout the tournament. Coming into the Euros as one of the favourites, they were held to a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in their opening group stage fixture, before narrowly beating Switzerland 2-1 in a game that could have gone either way.
Any frustrations about that performance were quickly taken out on Portugal, though, as they cruised to a 5-0 with Blackstenius opening her Euros account deep into stoppage time, ensuring her side finished top of Group C on goal difference.
They followed that up with another clean sheet during a 1-0 victory over Belgium in the quarter-finals in a game that Sweden dominated, but they were made to wait until the 92nd minute for that all-important goal.
Blackstenius has found the of the back of the net four times throughout the tournament so far, but three of those have been ruled out for offside with the margins tight on each occasion. Her darting runs and intelligent movement in the final third will almost certainly trouble the England defence.
Key stats and facts
- The winner will take on Germany or France in the final at Wembley on July 31
- England will be aiming to defeat Sweden at a major tournament for the first time since 1984
- Sweden have won their last two matches against England
- England have been victorious in four of their last six knockout fixtures at this tournament, and seven of their 14 overall; all of those victories have been by a single-goal margin
- England have lost three of their last four Euro semi-finals – the exception in that run is their 2-1 extra-time win against the Netherlands at the 2009 edition
- Sweden have reached the Euros semi-finals for the ninth time; Germany – who will compete in the last four for the tenth occasion at EURO 2022 – are the only nation to have featured in more
- England have won eight of their last nine Euro matches, the exception being the 2-1 semi-final defeat to Wiegman's Netherlands in 2017
- England are on their best-ever unbeaten run of 18 games, all under Wiegman (W16 D2); they have scored 100 goals in that time, conceding just four
- The Lionesses have kept 14 clean sheets in 18 games under Wiegman
- Both sides' only previous Euros penalty shoot-out came in this fixture; Sweden's 4-3 victory in the 1984 final second leg
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