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For casual fans of the Lionesses, Chloe Kelly's summer of heroics is perfectly in keeping with what they know about the England winger. After scoring that iconic winner in the Euro 2022 final and delivering another clutch moment with her decisive spot-kick against Nigeria at the World Cup a year later, Kelly's game-changing performances in the knockout stages at Euro 2025, which have propelled the Lionesses to the final, simply uphold her reputation as the woman for the big moment.
Yet, to only focus on her international exploits is to ignore the fact that, six months ago, it didn't look like Kelly would even be part of the squad this summer.
The 27-year-old's contributions at Euro 2025 have been incredible even without the whole back story. When England trailed 2-0 to Sweden with only 12 minutes remaining of their quarter-final clash, on came Kelly and within seconds, she had curled in a world-class cross for Lucy Bronze to head home. Two minutes later, she was at it again, as another delivery caused chaos in the box and Michelle Agyemang capitalised to draw the Lionesses level. To complete the set, Kelly also netted her penalty in the shootout, as England somehow got over the line.
On Tuesday, it was a little scruffier, but it was just as memorable. When Beth Mead was hauled down in the box by Italy defender Emma Severini in the penultimate minute of extra-time, there was brief confusion among onlookers as to who was going to take the spot-kick, with regular assignee Georgia Stanway now on the bench. But up stepped Kelly, the picture of cool, and while her initial effort was parried by Laura Giuliani, she reacted brilliantly to tap in the rebound.
It might not have been pretty but it was historic - an effort that sent England to the final of a tournament that, for a while, Kelly probably didn't even think she was going to play in.
