The original stadium, formerly known as the Empire Stadium, opened in 1923 and hosted football matches at the 1966 FIFA Men's World Cup, including the final – which saw hosts England beat West Germany 4–2 after extra time – and at UEFA Men's Euro 1996, including the final, in which Germany defeated the Czech Republic.

Throughout the history of the Women's Euro prior to 2022, England's Lionesses have reached the final twice and finished as runner-up on both occasions, first in the inaugural edition in 1984 when they lost to Sweden on penalties and then in 2009, losing 2–6 to Germany.

[15] As Europe's most decorated women's team, Germany is also the record holder of Euro titles, having triumphed eight times, including the 6–2 win over England in 2009.

He was joined by fellow countryman Maurizio Mariani as one of the assistant VAR officials, serving alongside Pol van Boekel of the Netherlands.

Her compatriot and assistant referee Maryna Striletska, from Luhansk, similarly left the country for Switzerland, officiating in the men's third-tier Promotion League.

Monzul officiated three matches earlier in the tournament: Spain vs Finland and Austria vs Norway in the group stage and the quarter-final between Sweden and Belgium.

In November 2020, she officiated a UEFA Nations League fixture between San Marino and Gibraltar as part of the first all-female refereeing team to take charge of a senior men's international match.

[26] For Germany, forward Klara Bühl was ruled out of the final by manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg after testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 prior to the semi-final against France.

The day before the final, Popp suffered a "slight [muscular] strain" according to Germany national team director Oliver Bierhoff, but wanted to wait until the pre-match warm-up to see if she was fit; this information was not announced prior to the match.

[32] For England, this meant that manager Sarina Wiegman had named the same starting line-up in all six matches of the competition, a first in the history of the women's or men's European Championship.

[33] Minutes prior to kick-off, Popp, the joint-leading scorer in the tournament, who had scored in all five matches, withdrew from the starting line-up injured due to her muscular issue resurfacing during the warm-up.

She was replaced by Schüller, the top scorer of the 2021–22 Frauen-Bundesliga who had been named Women's Footballer of the Year in Germany hours earlier by Kicker.

[39] England then managed the game well for the remaining 11 minutes, performing what The Athletic described as a "masterclass of time-wasting": keeping possession efficiently and using the corner to give the Germans no chance to equalise.

[63] On 1 August, the day following the final, the England team celebrated their victory with thousands of supporters at Trafalgar Square,[64][65] with the players "looking commendably the worse for wear".

[67] At Trafalgar Square, presenter and former player Alex Scott interviewed members of the England team, who then sang "Three Lions", "Sweet Caroline", "Freed from Desire" and "River Deep – Mountain High".

The Honours Committee acknowledged the discrepancy of not including all members of the squad in the Order, explaining that they were left out as the European Championship was not a World Cup and only the extraordinary contributions at the Euro were being recognised.

[87][88] The live UK television audience for the Euro final peaked at 17.4 million people on BBC One, making it the most-watched women's football game in the country's history.

[93] A friendly between England and world champions the United States, announced shortly after the win, sold out in 24 hours,[92] the fastest-selling women's match ever[93] and the fastest sell-out of Wembley.

[94] Journalists, both in the immediate aftermath and in year-end retrospective, wrote that the profile of the 2022 Euro (and its winners) would be a landmark moment that changed women's football history forever.

I think we've hosted an incredible tournament but we wanted to make our legacy about winning and that's what we did.The friendly against the United States had been promptly organised after the US coach, Vlatko Andonovski, attended the Euro and said that the atmosphere "took the women's soccer game to the next level and raised standards around the world".

[99] Deutsche Welle (DW) reflected that while the growth of the WSL would likely be predicated on increased spending, which the Euro win prompted, it would also need the reputation of the women's game in England to be sustained, and that this may be hard to achieve during a period of transition.

[100] The image of Chloe Kelly ripping off her shirt to celebrate the goal which won the tournament for the hosts, has become symbolic of how the women's game has thrown off the shackles of the restraints imposed upon it by society ever since the ban in 1921.

After the Euro final, the goal celebration by Chloe Kelly – removing her shirt to reveal a sports bra and then swinging her shirt around her head[101] – was praised as uniting and empowering women, as it showed a topless woman not as a sexual object but as an image of joy and of the power of female bodies and what women can achieve, as well as for showing the sports bra.

[111] Wiegman issued a long tribute, quoting back the Queen's message to the football team: "In that letter she called us an 'inspiration for girls and women'.

"[112] Prior to the tournament, the Lionesses had brokered a deal with the FA, to see each player receive £55,000 if they won, on top of a reported £2,000 per match fee.

After defeating them in the final, Stanway was encouraged by her German club teammates to sing "Sweet Caroline" as her initiation song upon arriving in Munich.

[123] German tabloid Bild accused the final of being rigged, comparing it to the 1966 Men's World Cup by saying that both times Wembley was used to guarantee England victory.

[125] On 3 August, inspired by player Lotte Wubben-Moy, the England team published an open letter addressed to the prime ministerial candidates.

The letter asked that whichever candidate won they would ensure access to physical education, and particularly football, for young and teenage girls.

[126][125] Truss won the July leadership contest, and subsequently met with the England women's team on 10 October 2022 to discuss improving access to football for girls; this was also the first prime ministerial meeting for the Lionesses since winning the Euro, as Truss's predecessor Boris Johnson had chosen not to attend the final and neglected to invite them for a winners' reception at 10 Downing Street.