I watched the penalties in the comfort of my own home, from behind my hands. My stomach turned with every run-up, every kick. And then it was over, and Hannah Hampton had saved the Lionesses, our collective sanity and maybe also the summer of 2025.

It has been an extraordinary summer of sport. Venus Williams’ comeback at the Washington DC Open, the epic French Open and Wimbledon finals, the Lions down under and now of course, the women’s Euros in Basel, which confirmed England as a team that would not be denied, a force to be reckoned with.

It has also been a summer of two types of England flags. The ones hung in pubs and homes to support the Lionesses in the UEFA Women’s Euro tournament are far different from those carried by the agitators who have joined some locals at protests in Epping and elsewhere.

Patriotism is not something that comes naturally to me, but sport has always drawn it out of me. Especially football. I love it, women’s football, even more. Not just the quality of play but the endearing qualities of all the players, on and off the pitch. 

Iconic is an overused word but it feels right for these Lionesses. The players have become role models for young women. Michelle Agyemang, Aellisa Russo and nerveless winning penalty-taker Chloe Kelly also play for Arsenal, vindicating us Gunners supporters who know that both our teams, women and men, are the best. Argue with the wall. 

Iconic is also right for Sarina Weigman, who made history as the first manager to manage the team in a fifth consecutive final, delivering back-to-back European championships. Her team are the first England football team to retain a title, the first to have won a tournament on foreign soil. Girls really do it better. 

The Lionesses were fearless, but I still have my fears for them. Female athletes still deal with an extraordinary amount of sexism and misogyny, online and offline. Women of colour face the double burden of racism and misogyny.

Even these brilliant, focused women cannot help being affected by racism – the police had to get involved after Jess Carter spoke out about the online abuse and threats she had received during the competition in Switzerland. England then gave up taking the knee before games, seemingly out of frustration that nothing was really changing.

We know that England could not have made it to the final without the women of colour on the team, but even though this win will result in greater participation in women’s football, it remains the case that many young black girls would love to play football but find themselves deterred by racism. 

What makes me heartened and hopeful, however, is the atmosphere of fun that Lionesses supporters create when they come together. So many have observed that there are generally better vibes in women’s football, and my experience is that supporters of the England women’s team tend to be better behaved, kinder and far more creative, with their custom football shirts, their fancams, funny signs and merch that actually appeals to younger fans.

This goodwill, this collective feeling, this way the Lionesses have of drawing people in – it is perhaps the greatest victory in the summer of sport. Hampton’s saves, Agyemang’s late goals, Kelly’s penalty and all the other moments will influence a generation of young girls who will benefit from more money for grassroots women’s sport and can now dream of themselves playing professional football one day. 

Women were banned in the UK from playing football from 1921 to 1971. Now the women’s England team are doing what the men cannot.

It took me years to understand the offside rule, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the need to support female athletes. Watching the women’s game grow from tiny crowds to widely celebrated matches is a smug satisfaction to those who argue that women can’t – or shouldn’t – play at the same scale as the men. The victory for these funny, fearless athletes allows me to be patriotic for a few hours before returning to my default cynicism.

If you want to look at people truly doing their best for the nation, don’t look at those confronting the police outside asylum hotels, those ranting about civil wars and how they want their country back or misogynists who call into radio shows complaining about women being shoved down their throats.

“Give them their own channel. But they can’t because no one would watch it,” demanded Graham, a caller Henry Riler spoke to on LBC. The clip has caught a nerve on social media, but giving it airtime feels counter-productive. Not only are the caller’s views bigoted and sexist, they’re inaccurate. 

It’s attitudes like these that are on the wrong side of history, while the Lionesses make it. Those women are the best of England.