Cristiana Girelli's Last-Minute Header Sends Italy Past Norway In Euro 2025 Quarter-Finals

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Italy secured a thrilling 2-1 victory over Norway, thanks to Cristiana Girelli's decisive header in the 90th minute. This win propelled Italy into the Euro 2025 semi-finals, marking their first appearance in the last four since 1997. Girelli's two goals in the second half were pivotal, sandwiching Ada Hegerberg's equaliser for Norway.

Italy dominated early on, with Emma Severini nearly scoring when she faced Cecilie Fiskerstrand one-on-one. However, the Norwegian goalkeeper successfully blocked her attempt from a tight angle. Just before half-time, Signe Gaupset almost gave Norway the lead with a long-range shot that narrowly missed the right post.

The second half began positively for Italy as Sofia Cantore's low shot from the right side of the box was missed by Fiskerstrand. Girelli capitalised on this opportunity, staying onside to score. Seven minutes later, Norway earned a penalty after Elena Linari fouled Hegerberg in the box.

Despite missing her initial penalty attempt by curling it wide of the right post, Hegerberg redeemed herself by converting Maren Mjelde's pass into a goal. She poked it past Laura Giuliani into the bottom-left corner after the Italian goalkeeper rushed out.

Norway increased their attacking pressure but failed to convert their chances. This proved costly as Girelli found space at the far post to head Cantore’s cross over Fiskerstrand and into the net off the underside of the crossbar. Italy now awaits either England or Sweden in their quest for a final berth after 28 years.

Girelli's Record-Breaking Performance

This victory ended Italy’s quarter-final drought since 2013, having been eliminated at this stage in both 2009 and 2013. Girelli played a crucial role with her eight major tournament goals (World Cup/Euros), second only to Carolina Morace’s twelve for Italy. At 35 years and 84 days old, Girelli became the oldest European player to score twice in a major tournament match.

Ada Hegerberg had mixed fortunes during this match. She became the first player since 2013 to miss two penalties at a Women's Euros (excluding shoot-outs). Despite this setback, she managed to score once before Norway exited the competition.