England legend Lucy Bronze revealed she played the entirety of Euro 2025 with a fractured tibia after the penalty shootout win over Spain in Sunday’s final.
The Lionesses bounced back from conceding a first half opener to Spain in Basel, with Alessia Russo scoring an equaliser just before the hour mark.
The match was 1-1 at 90 minutes and remained so at the end of extra time, heading to a nerve-shredding penalty shootout.
Both teams faltered, but England got over the line with a 3-1 victory, thanks to two saves from goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and a winning spot kick from Chloe Kelly.
Bronze had to be taken off during extra time after suffering a knee injury and it must have been serious because she had already shown her immense toughness.
The 140-cap full-back revealed that she has had a fractured tibia for the whole tournament, the tibia is sometimes known as the shin bone.
‘I’ve actually played the whole tournament with a fractured tibia, but no one knew,’ she told the BBC. ‘And now I’ve just hurt my knee today on the other leg.
‘I think that’s why I got a lot of praise from the girls after the Sweden game because I’ve been in a lot of pain, but that’s what it takes to play for England so that’s what I’ll do.
‘They know that, I think we inspire each other by playing through things like that and it got to the end, in the end.’
Asked how bad the pain has been, she said: ‘Very painful.’
The Lionesses have defended their European Championship title in extremely dramatic circumstances, having needed penalties to beat Sweden in the quarter-finals and extra time to get past Italy in the semis.
Bronze stepped up to score one of the spot-kicks against Sweden and felt the resilience of the team throughout the tournament has been immense.
‘We never lost belief in ourselves,’ she said. ‘I think there was a lot of noise on the outside but we just stuck together and dug deep.
‘We showed that in all the knockout games, to go 120 minutes back-to-back-to-back is incredible.
‘To win on penalties, two games, this team is so inspiring to be a part of. We just give each other energy I think what we’ve done today is just unbelievable.’
She added: ‘Today we’ve just shown resilience, the fight we’ve had through all the tournament. We’ve shown everyone to believe in yourself no matter what other people say about you and to believe in the people that give you that support.
‘I think that’s what we showed throughout the tournament. We showed that today and that’s what’s got us the trophy.’
England’s record goal-scorer, Ellen White, said of her former teammate: ‘I mean this in the nicest way but she’s not human.
‘She’s proper England. She’s just won a major tournament on a fractured tibia, that’s not normal, the pain must have been insane and she smashed that ball in the Sweden game.
‘That’s true to Lucy Bronze, she will give everything to play for England and win for England.’
