Eyes on the prize How goalie overcame problem with sight

Hannah Hampton had already saved one penalty in the shootout against Spain at Euro 2025 when Aitana Bonmatí, the back-to-back winner of the women's Ballon d'Or, placed the ball on the spot and stepped back, taking a moment before the strike. Bonmatí thumped the ball hard and left, but Hampton was there, arms outstretched, to block the shot with both hands.

- Ian Sample

"Better pens than the last time, let's be honest!" Hampton said after the match, a reference to the more painful shootout against Sweden in the quarter-final.

It was an extraordinary tournament for Hampton, the Chelsea player who became England's first-choice goalie only in May after the retirement of Mary Earps from international football. Hampton's penalty-saving record is perhaps even more impressive given that doctors told her that, owing to an eye condition, she would not be able to play football.

Hampton was born with strabismus, or a squint, meaning when she was looking at an object with one eye, the other would be looking in another direction. She had three operations by the age of three to correct the misalignment. The surgery was not a complete success: Hampton told the i paper in 2022 that she would try to pour juice into a glass and miss if she wasn't holding it.