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9th August 2025
10:21am BST
England’s goalkeeping hero Hannah Hampton says she launched the Spanish keeper’s penalty research into the crowd to stop her from knowing where England’s players would put their pens during last month’s final.
The Lionesses went on to win 3-1 on penalties, thanks in most part to Hampton who two saved two of the Spanish attempts on goal.
The win meant that the Lionesses became the first England side in history to defend a major title.
It is now clear that the 24-year-old showstopper had to slightly stretch the rules to get that victory over the line.
Elite goalkeepers like Hampton and her Spanish counterpart Cata Coll typically spend hours before big games researching their opponents penalty routines, before jotting down notes on which way the top players tend to put their kicks.
This gives them the best chance of saving those shots, and helping their team to victory.
In sport, every kind of advantage counts.
While keepers can’t take a notebook out onto the field with them, they can attach their research to some of the other items they bring.
Coll opted to cello-tape her research to the side of her bottle, while Hampton attaches hers to the inside of her arm.
And it was in Coll's choice to use her bottle — which looked identical to her opponent's — that she unwittingly handed an advantage to England.
Hampton told TalkSport: “The Spanish keeper had it (penalty notes) on her bottle.
“So I thought when she was going in goal I’ll just pick it up and chuck it into the English fans so she can’t have it.”
“I never put it on a bottle because anyone can do that, so I put it on my arm.
“It wasn’t hard, when she’s gone in the goal it’s on its own isn’t it? You just pick it up.
“When she saw my bottle in there instead, mine’s blank but it has the same sponsors and stuff so I just put mine in there, chucked hers in with the fans and she had an empty bottle.
“She was walking back and I was walking the other way and she was so confused, I was trying so hard not to burst out laughing.”
It isn’t the first time that one of England’s Lionesses has been accused of unsportsmanlike behaviour in the fallout from the final.
Parts of the Spanish press accused Chloe Kelly of celebrating her winning penalty in front of Cata Coll.
Regardless of those criticisms, on Tuesday both Hampton and Kelly were included in the 30-person shortlist for the Women’s Ballon D’or.
The honour pays tribute to their immense contributions to helping England secure back-to-back titles.
