(Football news) Germany remain on course to potentially win their ninth European championship after securing a hard fought 2-1 win over France in the Euro 2022 semi final. To say that Die Nationalelf's journey to the semi-finals has been flawless would be an understatement as they had not conceded a single goal before taking on France and were overwhelming favourites going into the fixture. Alexandra Popp scored a brace for Germany, the first of which came in the 40th minute when the 31 year old finished off an excellent move by her team, capitalising on an precise cross by Svenja Huth.

The opening goal was Germany’s 100th goal at the European Championships, an all time high record. However, France pulled a goal back at the stroke of halftime when a shot by Kadidiatou Diani hit the post but the rebound awkwardly hit Germany’s goalkeeper Merle Frohms and went into the back of the net. What followed was a wave of pressure by France who were given a boost of confidence after scoring the equaliser with the likes of Selma Bacha, Wendie Renard and Diani being denied by Frohms. Eventually, the tournament’s joint top scorer struck again in the 76th minute when Huth provided the assist to Popp whose powerful header went beyond French goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin.The result means that Germany will face England in the Euro 2022 final at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday in what will be a repeat of 2009’s final which was won by the Die Nationalelf.

Speaking after the match, Germany captain and goalscorer Alexandra Popp said “I can't put it into words. We played an amazing game and threw everything in. We are incredibly happy; nobody expected us. We're in the final at Wembley against England – it doesn't get any better than that. We earned our self-confidence in all the games. The team is just great; they have my back and are happy with me after my whole story of suffering. Now it's time to regenerate quickly. It [the Golden Boot] is not my priority – my priority is to win the Euro. If I have the chance to crown the title with that achievement, it would be nice – but if it doesn't happen, then I'll still be happy."

Germany head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said “I feel pure pride for this achievement and these players from numbers one to 23," she said. "We have worked so hard and have become such a tight-knit bunch who support each other on the field. We totally deserved to win. France made a change for the second half after only having one shot on goal before the break. We knew that they could do more offensively and hurt us. It was a terrific team effort and that's what we wanted. It worked out in the end but it was super-exciting and super-exhausting. 

“It will be a great football feast, it's a classic game and England has been incredible in this tournament, every single game full of dynamics, loads and loads of goals, but the first 30 minutes against Sweden showed you can hurt them. We will play in Wembley in front of 80,000 most of them probably for England, very few for us but we are accepting the challenge. I am very proud. I look forward to this game, this will be an incredible final."

Also read: Euro 2022: England Women thrash Sweden to reach the final