Wembley cheating? German journalist compares Leah Williamson’s handball to Geoff Hurst’s ghost goal

Seb Sternik
1 August 2022

Leah Williamson and England 1966 World Cup

England produced a historic 2-1 victory over Germany to claim their first ever European Championship crown.

A record crowd of over 87,000 watched on at Wembley Stadium as Chloe Kelly's 110th minute winner handed the Lionesses their greatest ever win.

Manchester United's Ella Toone opened the scoring for Sarina Wiegman's side, but the match was taken to extra-time after Lina Magull bagged the equaliser late in the second half.

England ultimately went on to seal the win and claim their first major international success. However, not everyone was satisfied with the way thing went down in London.

Germany, who won this competition a record eight times and never lost in a final prior to Sunday, were left frustrated after being denied a first-half penalty.

England captain Leah Williamson appeared to handle the ball in her own area, but despite a check from VAR, the spot kick was not awarded.

German manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg slammed referee Kateryna Monzul in her post-match interview, saying: "In such a big game, it's difficult to cope with that. I'm asking, why didn't the referee look at it? That would have given us more safety if we'd scored."

Elsewhere, BILD journalist Henning Feindt compared the incident to Geoff Hurst's controversial 1966 World Cup final goal, which helped England to victory over West Germany.

Feindt tweeted: "And again Wembley cheating - despite VAR! The DFB team didn't deserve that!"

Und wieder Wembley-Betrug - trotz VAR! Das hat das DFB-Team nicht verdient! pic.twitter.com/BmSalH4nui
— Henning Feindt (@Karlo_Kolumna) July 31, 2022

Hurst, similarly to Sunday's match winner Kelly, scored in extra-time to help the Three Lions to the title.

The England legend famously put his side 3-2 up from close range, with the ball hitting the underside of the crossbar before bouncing and being cleared by West Germany's defenders.

England eventually won 4-2 to claim their first and only World Cup crown at Wembley.