Chloe Kelly sealed another trophy for England as Brazil were beaten 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in the inaugural Women’s Finalissima at Wembley on Thursday.
Ella Toone finished off a neat first-half move to give the Lionesses a deserved lead in the clash between the European champions and Copa America Femenina winners.
Brazil were the better side after the break and Andressa Alves capitalized on goalkeeper Mary Earps’ stoppage error to force a spot-kick.
But England were not to be denied as Georgia Stanway, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood and Kelly – who scored at the same venue in the Euro 2022 final against Germany – converted from 12 yards.
Earps denied Tamires before captain Rafaelle Souza rattled the crossbar as Brazil endured shootout agony in front of a huge crowd of 83,132.
The marauding Lucy Bronze gave Canarinhas all sorts of problems in the first half and played a big part in the opening goal in the 23rd minute.
Bronze played a 1-2 with Stanway before picking out Toone, who fired right-footed from inside the penalty area in the 23rd minute as Brazil were broken up by England’s sharp passing and movement.
Lauren James had a goal disallowed for offside with the Euro 2022 winners firmly on top, but it was a different story after the break.
England gave Brazil every chance to get back into the game with a series of errors, one of which resulted in Earps palming a Geys shot high into the air and against the top of the bar.
Pia Sundhage’s side continued to probe and they were rewarded when Earps spilled a cross from the right to gift Andress an equalizer as time ticked down.
With no extra time, England recovered from the setback to win the shoot-out, Toone the only Lioness to fail to find the back of the net with her penalty before Kelly powered home the winner to make it 30 games unbeaten. under Sarina Wiegman.
England player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Mary Earps – 8/10 – Made an important save from Geyse when Brazil were on top early in the second half. Will be disappointed spilling the ball for the late equaliser but then more than made up for it with her role in the shootout.
RB: Lucy Bronze – 8/10 – Played like an extra winger in the first half and seemed to be at the heart of everything England were creating. Had to do a lot more defending after half-time.
CB: Leah Williamson (c) – 8/10 – Made a hugely important interception to deny a certain goal when Brazil were in the ascendancy. Displayed a good range of passing.
CB: Alex Greenwood – 6/10 – Good distribbution as always, but inexplicably caught in possession in a bad area that could easily have resulted in a goal. Did score in the shootout though.
LB: Jess Carter – 6/10 – Made an important block when tracking Geyse. A more defensively functional performance than that of Bronze on the other side.
CM: Georgia Stanway – 6/10 – Worked well in the right channel with Bronze and James in the first 45. Drowned a little after that but did force Leticia into a good save in the second half.
CM: Keira Walsh – 5/10 – Struggled to find the space to pick her usual passes when Brazil blocked up in the first half and didn’t have the impact she is capable of.
CM: Ella Toone – 7/10 – Scored an excellent opening goal, before fading from the game. Will be gutted that her penalty in the shootout was saved.
RW: Lauren James – 7/10 – Had a goal ruled out for offside. Much better in the first half than second.
ST: Alessia Russo – 6/10 – Put in a shift as always, never scared to run wide to try and pull the Brazil defence out of position. Didn’t have many real chances of her own.
LW: Lauren Hemp 6/10 – Had the pace to stretch Brazil but the final ball wasn’t always there.
Substitutes
SUB: Chloe Kelly (74′ for James) – 7/10
SUB: Rachel Daly (74′ for Russo) – 7/10
SUB: Katie Robinson (88′ for Hemp) – N/A
Manager
Sarina Wiegman – 7/10 – Her team found a way to beat Brazil’s shape and still create chances in the first half, but the visitors switched things up to take control. Waited a while to go to her bench, yet it did make a positive difference when she did.
