The 7 times England Women have reached the semi-final or beyond of a major competition

England Women have made it through to the final of their home UEFA Women’s Euros tournament after beating Sweden 4-0 in last night’s (Tuesday 26 July) semi final.

Sarina Wiegman’s side one of the hot favourites to lift the trophy after a near perfect start to the tournament, whilst also holding the home advantage.

The Lionesses have endured a lot of disappointment in their history, however the team have really stepped up in recent years and fans will be buzzing at the prospect of the ladies winning their first major competition on home soil.

Ahead of this weekend’s final against either Germany or France, we take a look at each time England Women have reached the semi-final or beyond in their history...

1984 Women’s Euros - final

The first time England Women reached the semi-finals in any major competition was in 1984, when they went one step further and reached the final.

Held across Denmark, England, Italy and Sweden, the Lionesses faced the former in a two-legged semi-final in Crewe then Hjørring.

Goals for Linda Curl and Liz Deighan secured a 2-1 win in the first leg, before a winner from Debbie Bampton in the second leg helped them progress to the final.

The final was once again two legs, with the first held in Gothenburg and the second at the home of Luton Town, Kenilworth Road.

After falling 1-0 behind heading into their home tie, another girl from Curl took the finale to penalties, before they fell to defeat after being within touching distance of the Euro trophy.

Despite reaching the final, the two legs only brought in just over 8000 fans.

1987 Women’s Euros - semi-final

It was only three years later that England Women once again reached the semi-final at the Euros - with Norway playing hosts.

England were determined to get revenge on Sweden as they once again faced them to battle it out for a place in the final.

Despite heading into half-time 2-1 up thanks to goals from Jackie Sherrard and Kerry Davis, Sweden fought back and eventually claimed a dramatic 3-2 victory in extra-time.

The crowd was significantly smaller than the two teams meeting at the previous tournament, with only 300 fans in attendance at the Melløs Stadion.

England then went onto lose their third-place play-off and finished fourth in a disappointing end to the competition.

1995 Women’s Euros - semi-final

After three tournaments of failing to qualify, England Women were back at it again during the 1995 Euros - once again held across four different countries of England, Germany, Norway and Sweden.

The Lionesses faced a tough two-legged semi against the soon-to-be champions Germany but failed to win either match, getting hammered 4-1 in their home tie at Vicarage Road.

The Germans then added salt to the wounds with a 2-1 victory in Bochum two months later.

After attracting only a crowd of 800 fans to Watford, the second leg counted up an impressive 7000-strong fanbase in Germany.

2009 Women’s Euros - final

After missing out in 1995, England once again went on a disappointing run of failing to make it past the group stage up until 2009.

England only narrowly progressed through their group after finishing in third place behind Sweden and Italy with four points.

They then faced a tough test against hosts Finland and played out a dramatic 3-2 win that saw Eni Aluko (2) and Fara Williams confirm the victory.

Next up was the semi-final against Netherlands, who had never even qualified for the Women’s Euros until 2009.

Despite the Dutch taking England the full way and forcing them into extra-time, Jill Scott secured the Lionesses a place in the final with a winner in the 116th minute.

The 2009 finale was this crop of player’s first chance at major success, however Germany dominated them in Helsinki with a thrilling 6-2 win to secure their fifth consecutive trophy.

2015 World Cup - semi-final

England Women had had next to no success in the World Cup until 2015, failing to qualify on three occasions and getting knocked out of the quarter-finals in the other three.

After beating Norway in the round of 16, England faced a tough tie against Canada in the quarter-final.

Early goals from Jodie Taylor and Lucy Bronze proved to be enough to claim the win against the Canadians and take them to their first ever semi-final in the Women’s World Cup.

Despite the growing positivity around this England team, their fairytale soon come to an end in a nervy match up with Japan.

Two penalties left the two sides even with only minutes to go before the full-time whistle, however England were left heartbroken when Laura Bassett gifted Japan with an own goal to knock them out of the competition.

However, the Lionesses did go onto beat Germany for a third-place finish.

2017 Women’s Euros - semi-final

England followed up an impressive World Cup tournament with another good run in the 2017 Women’s Euros - in what would prove to be the final year under Mark Sampson.

After breezing through Group D, England were challenged with a quarter-final tie against France which was won by Jodie Taylor on the hour mark - with the striker going onto become the tournament’s top scorer.

However, the Lionesses once again failed to make it past the semi-final when they faced hosts Netherlands in Eschede.

With a crowd of 27,093, Sampson’s side were smashed 3-0 by the Dutch - who then went onto beat Denmark in the final.

2019 World Cup - semi-final

Once again, England Women enjoyed another good run in the most recent World Cup.

After winning all three of their group matches, Phil Neville’s side eased through to the semi-final with comfortable 3-0 wins over both Cameroon and Norway before they faced United States in Lyon.

Top scorer Ellen White gave the Lionesses hope when they equalised inside 20 minutes, however Alex Morgan broke hearts with her strike on the half hour mark to knock England out in the semi-final once again.