Key events
41 min: Hemp probes down the left and doubles back, before whipping a low curler along the corridor of uncertainty. It evades everyone, and nearly creeps into the bottom right corner. Just wide. Giuliani had stretched every fingertip to try to reach that. England want a corner but they’re not getting one.
39 min: Hemp advances down the inside left and sends a diagonal pass to James, coming in from the other flank. James takes a touch and reaches the D, opting to pass the ball towards the bottom right instead of blootering it. That allows Giuliani to turn the shot away. A good save, but one she probably shouldn’t have been allowed to make. If James had a chance to do it all over again, a fair chance she’d be putting her laces through that.
37 min: Girelli wins Italy’s first corner of the game down the left. It’s sent long by Giugliano. Di Guglielmo wins a header at the far post, but Williamson is on point to block and clear. Italy suddenly look much more confident. What a goal can do.
35 min: Bronze should really have cleared that cross. She certainly shouldn’t have let the ball get through to Bonansea. And she should arguably have got closer to her opponent before she shot as well. England try to respond immediately, Toone making off down the right and looking for James in the middle. But her cross is cleared.
GOAL! England 0-1 Italy (Bonansea 33)
Lenzini and Cantore combine down the right flank. A cross is looped into the middle. Bronze, discombobulated, six yards out, fails to control or clear. Bonansea takes a touch on the edge of the six-yard box, before roofing past Hampton from close range. Easy as that for Italy; it’s another disappointing defensive display from England, though.
31 min: Hemp advances down the left and hooks back in the hope of finding Russo in the middle. Thankfully that doesn’t happen, and Oliveiro is able to intercept and win a free kick. Thankfully because the ball had hit the referee earlier in the move, and dropped to England, who set off on the attack. For some reason the referee half-raised her whistle to her mouth, but then thought twice about stopping the play. That would have been a controversial one had England scored off that move.
30 min: Russo tries to release Hemp, flicking on a long ball down the middle. Too much on the header. This has suddenly become a bit scrappy.
28 min: The pace drops a little. Girelli tries to release Caruso down the left with a cheeky flick, but gets it all wrong. Throw. “The Italians must try to get some offensive push,” suggests Mary Waltz. “Russo should have scored and if they continue this pressure surely a Lionesses goal is forthcoming soon.”
26 min: Bonansea clatters into Stanway, and becomes the latest player to be slightly fortunate not to go into the book. The Croatian referee Ivana Martinčić in an easy-going mood so far.
25 min: … and Italy counter. Lenzini makes good down the right and she’s got options in the box, but balloons her cross out for a goal kick.
24 min: … and here she is again, winning the first corner of the game down the right. Greenwood swings it in dangerously, but it doesn’t fall to a black shirt in the six-yard box. Italy clear.
23 min: James gets persistent down the right. She’s forced to turn tail on a couple of dribbles, but refuses to stop probing, and eventually works herself enough space to cross long for Hemp, who eyebrows out for a goal kick. That’s fine work from the ever-excellent James.
21 min: Linari pings a long pass down the inside-left channel for Bonansea, who flicks on for Girelli. England’s defence is split, and they’re fortunate Cantore comes across and all the Italians get in each other’s way. Had Girelli been left to get on with it, England were in all sorts.
19 min: England stroke the ball around patiently. Italy made to chase. Then suddenly England pick up the pace. A ball swung in from the left by Stanway. It drops to Russo on the penalty spot. Her back to goal, she spins round and whistles a low drive inches wide of the bottom right. Not sure Giuliani was getting to that, had it been on target.
17 min: Toone, Stanway and Hemp combine well down the left, the latter sending a cross over a near-empty Italian box. Only Russo had kept up with play. A disappointing end to a flowing move.
15 min: Bonansea makes good down the Italian left only to loop a cross over everyone’s head. The first serious sortie into English territory by Italy.
14 min: Caruso drops a shoulder in the hope of getting past Stanway, only to be crudely checked by the England midfielder. The referee might run out of patience with England if there’s a third aggressive whack to come soon.
13 min: A dispatch from our man Tom Garry in Geneva. “I was lucky to be in this stadium for Italy’s quarter-final last week and, on that night, their fans were in the majority, vastly outnumbering the Norwegians. Tonight, in contrast, the Italians are in the minority, with white and red flags dominating and the England fans making almost all the noise.”
11 min: Space for Hemp down the left. She reaches the byline and cuts back for James, who takes a first-time flick goalwards. Italy are very fortunate that it flies straight at Giuliani, who snaffles. The first proper chance of the match.
9 min: Bronze gets a bit too eager, sliding in strongly on Bonansea. Very late, studs withdrawn just in time. Just a free kick and a strongly-worded lecture from the referee. Bronze is fortunate not to go into the book.
8 min: Italy are being penned back in their final third. Linari tries to move them upfield with a long ball down the left, but Russo gets right up in her grille to put a stop to that. The champions imposing themselves.
6 min: England are expected to have the bulk of possession tonight, and these opening exchanges reflect that. Bronze, Hemp and Toone all buzzing around a lot. The Italian defence not being given a moment. Stanway latches onto a poor pass out from the back but can’t do anything with it.
4 min: Greenwood goes long down the left, hoping to find Hemp, but overcooks the pass. A brisk start by the defending champions, though.
2 min: England are on the front foot early, Toone swinging a cross in from the left. Bronze competes in the hope of winning a header but Lenzini wins that particular duel.
1 min: England’s bench lined up along the touchline at kick-off in a sign of solidarity with Jess Carter, and to take a stand against bigotry.
Italy get the semi-final underway. “Esme Morgan in for Jess Carter; fine, makes sense,” begins Charles Antaki. “I hope she has a terrific game, and then for whatever reason (barring serious injury) happily goes off and Carter comes on and plays an absolute match-winning blinder for the rest of the game. It won’t put an end to the unpleasantness she’s had to face, but it may tone it down a bit.”
The teams are out! England in black, Italy green, the atmosphere at the Stade de Genève electric. The first semi-final will get underway once pennants have been exchanged and national anthems sung. Speaking of which, here’s a fun fact: if you play God Save The King and Il Canto degli Italiani at the same time, this piece of magic comes out …
… but make sure you start them both at exactly the same time, because it’s all too easy to get this sort of thing dreadfully out of whack.
You could argue that Italy are betting with house money tonight. According to our pre-tournament preview, their realistic aim was to “reach the knockout stage and if they succeed they will look to make their mark among Europe’s elite”, so in that respect all of their goals have already been met. England, as defending champions and second favourites, don’t have that free-hit luxury. “I suspect we’ll have some sort of an idea of what kind of evening we’re in for after about 62 seconds,” writes Adam K. “I’m hoping England are switched on from the start this time.”
If England are to progress, they’ll need to keep tabs on Cristiana Girelli. The veteran striker has scored 61 goals for her country in 122 appearances, the last two coming last Wednesday to secure victory against Norway. Sophie Downey profiles Le Azzurre’s talisman.
England pushed their luck against Sweden last week, and might not get away with a similar display tonight. Here’s Tom Garry on the ways in which they must improve if they’re to reach a final against either Spain or Germany.
The rest of Sarina Wiegman’s pre-match interview with ITV. “It’s a huge night for everyone … Esme Morgan is ready, she has been ready for a while … she had to wait for that … she showed that the other night … I hope she will do really well … we are going to do our very best to play at our best … let’s see what it brings us … we want to take our game to the next level … we have different challenges … Italy will challenge us again … they have played in different shapes … they are tactical … adapt to what the opponent does … I hope we have the ball a lot and dominate the game … we want to win … at the end it doesn’t matter how but after 90 minutes would be nice.”
Sarina Wiegman is asked by ITV about her decision to replace Jess Carter in defence with Esme Morgan. “The decision is based on the tactical challenges we have, and we think that in this game, it is best to put Esme in. Jess is good. Of course a lot of things going on, but she’s good, she trained well, she is ready to compete and ready to play.”
Both teams make one change to their starting line-up from the quarter-finals. England replace Jess Carter with Esme Morgan, while Italy switch out midfielder Emma Severini for an extra defender in Martina Lenzini. England captain Leah Williamson is good to go despite the ankle problem that required her to wear a protective boot after the Sweden game.
The teams
England: Hampton, Bronze, Williamson, Morgan, Greenwood, Toone, Walsh, Stanway, James, Russo, Hemp.
Subs: Moorhouse, Charles, Mead, Le Tissier, Clinton, Carter, Agyemang, Kelly, Beever-Jones, Park, Wubben-Moy, Keating.
Italy: Giuliani, Lenzini, Salvai, Linari, Di Guglielmo, Caruso, Giugliano, Bonansea, Oliviero, Girelli, Cantore.
Subs: Baldi, Schatzer, Severini, Piemonte, Piga, Bergamaschi, Serturini, Goldoni, Boattin, Greggi, Cambiaghi, Durante.
Referee: Ivana Martincic (Croatia).
The kits. Neither side will wear their first-choice clobber tonight. England eschew their traditional white; hear the roar of the red, black, purple and two different shades of blue. This time, more than any other time. Italy meanwhile will wear green, which makes more sense than the traditional Savoy azure, given their flag, but that ship’s long sailed. Italy wearing adidas is just plain wrong, though. Diadora, yes, Kappa, yes, Le Coq Sportif, yes, even Puma at a push. But adidas? Nein! (And as for Nike getting the Germany gig …)
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Tonight’s teams reached the semi-final in exactly the same manner: by doing a number on some Scandinavian dark horses. Relive every dramatic moment of those noir thrillers here.
Preamble
England haven’t brought their best stuff to Euro 2025 yet. Beaten by France, outplayed by Sweden, fortunate to get away with a few missed penalties … and yet here the Lionesses are, in the semi-finals, one step away from the big one. The reigning champions and World Cup finalists have tournament smarts, talent and determination to spare, so if they finally click into gear, well, Europe watch out.
They’ve got a good record against Italy, winning their last two matches against Le Azzurre to the cumulative score of 7-2. So Sarina Wiegman’s women go into this match as favourites. But Italy are on a high, having reached this stage for the first time since 1997, seeing off a very good Norway team, and Wiegman isn’t taking anything for granted. “We will have to be at our very, very best to win,” she says. Kick-off in Geneva is at 8pm UK time. It’s on!
