Chloe Kelly was England’s winning goalscorer once again as the Lionesses beat Brazil 4-2 on penalties in the inaugural Women’s Finalissima, having drawn 1-1 in normal time.
Toone’s 23rd-minute strike looked to have decided the result in front of over 83,000 fans at Wembley, but a fumbled save from Mary Earps allowed Andressa Alves to slot home with only minutes to play, taking the game to spot-kicks.
Tamires and Brazil captain Rafaelle Souza both missed their penalties – as did Toone for England – but Euro 2022-winning goalscorer Kelly did it again for the Lionesses as she coolly sealed the winning penalty.
England are now 30 matches unbeaten under Sarina Wiegman and won their first penalty shootout, adding the Finalissima to their Euro 2022 and Arnold Clark Cup trophies already in their rapidly-expanding cabinet.
How England won the first Finalissima
It was a slow start from both sides, but England saw the better play. Lucy Bronze forced a superb save from Lele early on with a fierce strike from range. Then Geyse had Brazil’s first shot of the game but it was blocked by Jess Carter
But in the 22nd minute, England took a deserved lead. It was sublime play that saw Bronze in down the left wing before cutting the ball back for an unmarked Toone. The Man Utd striker then hit home low and hard for yet another Wembley goal.
England’s Ella Toone celebrates after scoring against Brazil in the Women’s Finalissima at Wembley
England thought they had scored a second soon after, but Lauren James’ well-taken effort was rightly ruled for offside. Tamires too was flagged as her effort was palmed away by Earps. Lele also needed to be alert to late first-half shots from Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo.
Brazil made two half-time substitutions, switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation, and dominated the first 20 minutes of the second period. Just before the hour, an unmarked Andressa made horrible contract with a Geyse cross, bobbling the ball wide.
Earps was then called into a sensational save from Geyse’s thunderbolt of a shot. The England No1 leaped acrobatically with one hand to palm the ball onto the top of the crossbar and behind for a corner.
England came through Brazil’s period of pressure – Georgia Stanway forcing a fine save from Lele midway through the second half – but a spill from Earps late on saw Andressa smuggle the ball home from close range.
It sent the game straight to a penalty shootout – the first test of its kind under Wiegman. But the Lionesses stood up to the challenge, with Stanway, Rachel Daly and Alex Greenwood all scoring their efforts, before Kelly slotted home the decisive spot-kick.
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Faye White says the last minute drama against Brazil that saw England win the Finalissima in a shootout was a ‘great test’ for the upcoming World Cup
What’s next?
England are next in action on April 11 when they take on World Cup co-hosts Australia at Brentford’s Gtech Stadium, kick-off 7.45pm.
What is the World Cup schedule?
The group stage will begin on July 20 and run over a two-week period finishing on August 3 and see group winners and runners-up progress to the round of 16, which takes place from August 5 to August 8.
The quarter-finals, which will be held in Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney, are scheduled for August 11 and 12.
The first semi-final will then be played on August 15 in Auckland, with the other semi-final taking place on August 16 at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, which will then host the final on August 20.
A third-place play-off will be played the day before the final on August 19 in Brisbane.