The Queen led tributes to England's Euro 2022 winners after Sarina Wiegman led the Lionesses to a momentous 2-1 victory over Germany at Wembley.
It gave England's women a breakthrough moment and led to acclaim from across football and far beyond, with Harry Kane, Boris Johnson and David Baddiel among those joining in the celebrations.
Baddiel famously joined fellow comic Frank Skinner and indie band the Lightning Seeds in creating the 1996 Three Lions hit song, with the 'It's coming home...' lyric weighing heavily for over a quarter of a century.
In a letter to the England team, The Queen said they would serve as inspirational figures for generations to come.
She wrote: "My warmest congratulations, and those of my family, go to you all on winning the European Women's Football Championships.
"It is a significant achievement for the entire team, including your support staff. The championships and your performance in them have rightly won praise.
"However, your success goes far beyond the trophy you have so deservedly earned. You have all set an example that will be an inspiration for girls and women today, and for future generations.
"It is my hope that you will be as proud of the impact you have had on your sport as you are of the result today."
England men's captain Harry Kane, whose side were beaten on penalties by Italy at Wembley in last year's European Championship final, said the scenes this time around were "absolutely unreal".
The striker spared high praise for Ella Toone, whose precise lob gave England a 1-0 lead in the 62nd minute, saying the Manchester United forward should "take a bow for that finish".
His England colleague Raheem Sterling hailed the group as "history-makers". Kane and Sterling will be among the England team targeting World Cup glory later this year.
Former England defender Gary Neville called it "a seismic moment for sport in this country" while outgoing Prime Minister Johnson said it was a "stunning victory".
Gary Lineker, who reached the World Cup semi-finals with England in 1990 and won the Golden Boot at the 1986 tournament, harked back to a famous comment he once made about German success.
Appropriating it for the Lionesses, he wrote: "Football is a simple game. 22 women chase a ball for 90 minutes and, at the end, England actually win."
The Three Lions anthem might have to be retired now that England have triumphed on such a major stage.
Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds have had good mileage out of that summer smash hit, from back when England hosted the men's Euro 96 tournament.
Baddiel wrote on Sunday evening: "It's come home. A sentence I thought I'd never write. I've gone. Thank you Lionesses."
Rice "was never going to celebrate" against Republic of Ireland
Declan Rice "was never going to celebrate" after scoring against the Republic of Ireland in England's 2-0 Nations League victory.
The midfielder was met by a hostile crowd in Dublin having previously represented Ireland before changing allegiance to England.
But Rice had the last laugh, lashing home in the 11th minute before teeing up Jack Grealish, who previously represented Ireland at youth level, to seal a comfortable win for Lee Carsley's side.
It marked his fourth goal for the Three Lions but Rice did not feel the need for celebrations.
"Obviously, it was an amazing feeling to score, but I was never going to celebrate. I have Irish family, my nan and grandad, who are not here anymore and I think it would have been disrespectful to them if I celebrated," he told beIN Sports.
"It happened six, seven years ago so it’s such a long time ago now. I get on really well with a lot of the Irish boys so there’s nothing hard done by, by me. Obviously, the fans feel a certain way, and that’s absolutely fine.
"I just wanted to focus and get my head back in the game to score more goals."
The last time Rice had played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin was six years and 97 days prior to Saturday's match. On that occasion, he represented Ireland against the USA in June 2018.
Now in the white shirt of England, Rice helped interim manager Carsley to a debut win in Dublin after the resignation of Gareth Southgate following Euro 2024.
"It's been refreshing this week to play with [Carsley] and play with his staff. We're playing in a different way to what we were before," reflected Rice.
"It's going to take a bit of time for us to be amazing at what we do, but a lot of the players that play at [Manchester] City, Liverpool, Arsenal, we play a similar way, so it's easy to adapt.
"It was really good, it was really refreshing. I'm feeling much fitter in myself which is a real positive. It was a really good result in the end."
While Rice now represents a relative stalwart of the England squad with 59 caps, former England Under-21s manager Carsley, himself an ex-Ireland international, handed debuts to Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes, while he also played Anthony Gordon and Levi Colwill from the start.
"We've obviously been really close now in back-to-back Euros, at a World Cup, so the next thing for England is to win," said Rice.
"We need to strive and keep building towards that. It’s a different group this time, more younger players, but I'm sure we’ll be better for it. Going forward, it's going to be really positive, and it's going to be a fresh start."
Koeman impressed with 'flashy' Netherlands, jumps to defend De Ligt mistakes
Ronald Koeman was pleased with the Netherlands' "flashy" display against Bosnia-Herzegovina, as he also jumped to the aid of defender Matthijs de Ligt.
A dominant Dutch display eventually reflected the scoreline it deserved upon Donatas Rumsas' final whistle, as they bounced back to winning ways with a 5-2 victory following their Euro 2024 semi-final disappointment.
Joshua Zirkzee's opener was cancelled out by Ermedin Demirovic, before strikes from Tijjani Reijnders and Cody Gakpo gave the Netherlands a comfortable advantage.
Edin Dzeko's 73rd-minute goal threatened to set a nervy conclusion to proceedings, only for Wout Weghorst and Xavi Simons to confirm an emphatic victory.
"We played really well in possession. Very fresh, fast, often finding the people between the lines," Koeman said.
"Especially after the break, we had a good phase, but then the game has to be over."
Despite registering 28 shots, with nine of those on target, along with an expected goals (xG) total of 4.09, two lapses in concentration from De Ligt were punished by Bosnia.
Demirovic capitalised on some poor positioning from the Manchester United defender, who was then caught ball-watching as veteran Dzeko capitalised.
But Koeman came to the defence of De Ligt, saying: "You concede two goals, you take that with you. When we went to 3-2, you also saw some doubt in the team, while that was not necessary if you looked at the proportions.
"[For the first goal] Simons should have done better. He was marking their left midfielder and suddenly walked away from him.
"Of course, the centre-backs are positioning themselves wrong too.
"He [De Ligt] also realises that he is in the wrong position. This shouldn't happen, but mistakes are part of football. I think it's unfair to make a big deal out of it."
Ronaldo's 900 goals 'an inspiration for football' – Martinez
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez sees Cristiano Ronaldo's "incredible" achievement of 900 career goals as an "inspiration for football".
Ronaldo netted his landmark goal on Thursday, scoring Portugal's winner in a 2-1 Nations League victory over Croatia.
The 39-year-old was already the leading goalscorer in the history of the game.
And Martinez feels nobody can put a limit on what Ronaldo is still able to achieve.
"I don't think scoring 900 goals is easy. It's a historic achievement, incredible, an inspiration for football," Martinez said ahead of Portugal's clash with Scotland.
"I don't think anyone can say that Cristiano can't do something. It's incredible what he's achieving, what he's doing in football.
"For us, the goal is collective. That he helps the national team."
Scotland lost 3-2 at home to Poland in their Nations League opener, but Martinez is expecting a fierce test on Sunday.
"Our players know the intensity of British football. Scotland have that. A lot of intensity, fast attacks, experience. We know the difference, but Scotland are objective, vertical, but have the quality to keep the ball," Martinez said.
"The last two games have shown that they want to win. They've lost their last few games after the 90th minute, they're objective, they've got top-class players. They're experienced and talented.
"It's not just a British team, a physical team, but a team with lots of skills and the game will be very competitive. We've prepared for that."
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