Soccer History | Wembley — 87,192, a Century After the Ban

On 31 July 2022, 87,192 people watched England beat Germany 2-1 at Wembley. It was the largest crowd ever recorded at a European Championship final, in either the men's or the women's competition. The previous record was 79,115, set at the men's final of 1964 in Madrid. A hundred and one years earlier, the Football Association had barred women from playing on the ground of any club in its membership. Ella Toone scored first, on 62 minutes, chipping Merle Frohms after a long pass from Keira Walsh. Lina Magull equalised on 79. Chloe Kelly got the winner in the 110th minute, prodding the ball in from close range at a corner. Forbes places that goal in the 111th minute; UEFA, ESPN and the standard reference all give the 110th. Germany lost their captain before kick-off. Alexandra Popp, who had scored in each of their five previous matches, was injured in the warm-up, and Lea Schüller took her place. Sarina Wiegman named the same eleven to start all six of England's matches. That had not happened before at a European Championship with a group stage, in either competition. Kateryna Monzul of Ukraine refereed. She had left Ukraine after the invasion earlier that year. It was England's first major trophy in either game since 1966, won on the same site — though not in the same building, since the stadium of 1966 was demolished and the present one opened in 2007. The tournament drew 574,865 spectators across 31 matches, more than double the 2017 edition. The average of 18,544 fell short of UEFA's stated target of 20,000 a game. Both photographs here were taken at this ground that day: the stadium filling during the afternoon, and the trophy presentation afterwards. Sources: UEFA; The Football Association; ESPN; Wikipedia; Forbes; Olympics.com. Cover photo: Bryn Holmes, CC BY-SA 2.0. Wembley before kick-off: Daniel from Glasgow, CC BY 2.0. Both via Wikimedia Commons.