Players from England and Sweden heaped praise on each other for their bravery in a penalty shootout at the Women's European Championship on Thursday, despite a record-low conversion rate and criticism from fans.
England's 3-2 shootout victory over Sweden, which secured the reigning champions a place in the Euro 2025 semifinals, featured missed efforts and saves by both goalkeepers.
Yet with England missing four and Sweden missing five of their seven efforts, the players drew plenty of online criticism.
"For anyone to step up, it takes a lot, so credit to anyone who takes a penalty in those moments," England forward Alessia Russo said.
After what was described on the BBC website as the "greatest and worst shootout of all time", Sweden defender Smilla Holmberg received comfort, not criticism, from players on both sides after missing the decisive kick.
"(We told her) that she should be proud of herself, that she is brave, that she has played a great championship and that she is awesome," an emotional Sweden keeper Jennifer Falk told reporters.
The meagre 36 per cent conversion rate was the worst combined penalty shootout rate in Uefa Women's Euro history, according to ESPN, the only other one under 50 per cent was the 2017 semifinal between Denmark and Austria (43 per cent).
However, former Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl, who suffered a similar 3-2 shootout defeat in the 2021 Olympic final against Canada, told Reuters on Friday that Falk and England keeper Hannah Hampton deserved praise in the shootout.
"We have to give credit to the goalkeepers who really owned that moment last night ... with each save that Falk made, she grew in the eyes of the penalty-takers, and so too did Hampton," she said after Falk made four stops to Hampton's two.
"Take Magda Eriksson's penalty - it's not a bad penalty just because she hit the woodwork. That happened because she wanted so much of a margin against Hampton in goal that she aimed to put it closer to the post than she would normally have done. That's good goalkeeping," Lindahl explained.
📝 England came back from 2-0 down then outlasted Sweden in a marathon shoot-out to keep their title defence going into a semifinal against Italy.
— Uefa Women's EURO 2025 (@WEURO2025) July 17, 2025
Full report from Zurich ⤵️#WEURO2025
The shootout drew scathing criticism from fans on social media, with many using it as an argument against the women's game.
Studies have shown, however, that the conversion rates in penalty shootouts are similar between women and men, with both achieving success rates around 75 to 80 per cent.
Lucy Bronze converted her first ever penalty for England – and her team's decisive shot – despite being hampered by hamstring tightness, with a rocket that measured 102.51 kph, the third fastest goal of the tournament so far.
