England beat Sweden in dramatic shootout to reach semifinals

Defending champions England beat Sweden in a nail-biting penalty shootout on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Women's European Championship after staging a remarkable late recovery from two goals down to draw 2-2.

Sweden keeper Jennifer Falk saved four penalties, a record in a Women's Euro shootout. But she skied the potentially winning spot kick over the bar as England to triumphed 3-2 with 18-year-old Smilla Holmberg missing the last one after Lucy Bronze had powerfully dispatched hers for the Lionesses.

"Stressful. Stressful watching, stressful playing," England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton told the BBC when asked about the shootout, in which she saved two penalties with Sweden missing three others.

"Every time I saved one I was thinking 'please just put it in so we have a bit of a cushion.' Their keeper then just went and saved the next one and I was thinking 'oh goodness, here we go.'"

England would have been thankful to get to penalties, however, as -- having trailed almost from the start -- they were 2-0 down with 12 minutes remaining before goals from Bronze and teenage substitute Michelle Agyemang took the match to extra time.

It is the first time in the history of the Women's Euros that a team has fought back from two goals down in a knockout match.

England will face Italy in the semifinals in Geneva on Tuesday.

SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images

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t all looked so different for Sweden as they roared into an early lead.

Stina Blackstenius teed up Sweden captain Kosovare Asllani to score in the second minute after England gave the ball away cheaply, and Blackstenius then out-ran Jess Carter to score with a confident finish herself in the 25th minute.

Following the interval, coach Sarina Wiegman rang in the changes, bringing on Agyemang, Beth Mead and Esme Morgan in the 70th minute, and the introduction of Chloe Kelly a few minutes later added even more attacking verve.

Bronze pulled a goal back for England in the 79th minute, meeting Kelly's cross and heading home from a tight angle to re-ignite the white-clad fans in the crowd and Agyemang levelled two minutes later with a superb poacher's finish to send the game to extra time.

Both sides had their fair share of chances in extra time but the game went to penalties, and though the Swedes missed their first spot kick, Falk's superb saves soon put them in the driving seat.

She had the chance to win it but she sent her kick high over the bar, and though she saved from Grace Clinton, Bronze beat her from the spot.

After Sofia Jakobsson's miss, the pressure proved too much for Holmberg, who fired over for the ninth miss of an unforgettable shootout.

Wiegman's side reached their fourth semifinal in the last five Euros and also become the first champions since Germany in 2009 to make it beyond the quarterfinals at the following tournament.

"It was hard. One of the hardest games I've ever watched," Wiegman said. "Very emotional. We could've been out four or five times during the game. When you're 2-0 down at halftime, it's not good.

"We started really badly and then at the end of the first half we got better and in the second half we got better but we didn't create anything so we had to change shape. Then we scored two goals so that was crazy already.

"Then we go into extra-time, some players injured, some players cramping, Hannah Hampton with blood all over the place, then we go to the penalty shootout and we miss a lot but they miss even more and we're through," she added.

Information from Reuters, The Associated Press and ESPN Research was used in this report.

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