England’s nail-biting, come-from-behind victory over Spain in the European women’s soccer championship on Sunday electrified the country,with euphoric fans cheering something utterly new for them: the dawn of a national soccer dynasty.

England, the defending champion, edged out Spain in a penalty shootout to hold on to the title it won in 2022, after conceding the first goal, as it had in both its quarterfinal and semifinal games. The victory avenged England after its heartbreaking defeat to Spain in the World Cup women’s championship two years ago.

It also stamped the women’s team, nicknamed the Lionesses, as the proud standard-bearer for English soccer. England’s men’s team, known as the Three Lions, have not won a major championship since 1966, becoming a byword for sporting misery in a country that views itself as the home of soccer.

Instead, it is the Lionesses who have become regulars at the pinnacle of international soccer, showing grit and steely nerves as they rebounded from a sloppy start in the early games of this tournament, played in Switzerland.

“We’ve not made it easy for ourselves, we love the drama,” said Bethany Madden, 26, who watched the game with friends on two large television screens at the Victoria pub in southeast London. “But it’s made it such an exciting tournament. You can never rule the Lionesses out.”