England to face Germany in Euro 2022 final after captain Popp scores twice

ENGLAND will face Germany in a mouth-watering Euro 2022 final on Sunday.

German captain Alexandra Popp scored twice to beat France and set up a highly-anticipated clash at Wembley.

The striker’s semi-final brace saw her join Lioness ace Beth Mead on six goals in the Euro 2022 Golden Boot race.

Sunday’s showdown — taking place on the weekend of the 56th anniversary of the 1966 men’s World Cup final between the two countries —  will see the Germans attempt to beat the hosts and claim a record ninth Euros trophy.

It is also a replay of the 2009 final, with the Lionesses beaten 6-2 on that occasion as Germany won their fifth of six consecutive tournaments.

In fact they have won eight of the last ten European titles stretching back to 1989.

The previous tournament to this one, in 2017, had been Germany’s worst performance since 1987 but Popp and Co have been excellent this summer.

However, they will now face Sarina Wiegman’s high-flying England who will have 80,000 fans cheering them on at Wembley – and millions more at home.

England are unbeaten in 19 matches under the Netherlands-born head coach and will fancy their chances on home soil.

The first half-hour of the semi-final at Stadium MK seemed downtempo in comparison to the end-to-end humdinger of the opening 30 minutes between England and Sweden.

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Chances were few and far between early on but Popp stung the palms of the Les Bleues keeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin with a fine free-kick.

And the Wolfsburg ace then walloped in  a superb volley to give Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side a 40th-minute lead.

But France hit back with Kadidiatou Diani’s shot hitting the post and bouncing in off German No 1 Merle Frohms.

Frohms made amends with some vital saves  after the break, before Popp grabbed the winner with a powerful header on 76 minutes to set up a final clash with England.