After England's nerve-wracking extra-time win over Italy, everyone's eyes were on who would be England's opponent in the final.
Spain, the reigning world champions on the hunt for their first European Championship final ever, or Germany, which is the tournament's powerhouse with a total of eight European Championship titles on its merits list.
And it became an incredibly even hunt for the final spot between the football giants.
Goalless first half
Germany could have taken the lead after just seven minutes when Klara Bühl got a giant chance, but the finish went just outside. Shortly afterwards, it was Spain's turn to threaten when Esther Gonzalez got a golden opportunity after a failed German clearance, but couldn't put the ball away.
Towards the end of the half, Spain was close to breaking the zero again. Irene Paredes headed a corner into the post, and on the rebound, Gonzalez tried with a bicycle kick that went over. Despite several chances from the Spanish women, Ann-Katrin Berger in the German goal kept tight, and 0-0 stood until the break.
The second half continued in the same spirit. Spain dominated ball possession while Germany mainly threatened through quick transitions.
New extra-time drama
After 90 played minutes plus added time, it was still 0-0 on the scoreboard. Thus, another exciting extra-time match was waiting in the tournament.
The first extra quarter remained goalless - but in the second came the decision.
Aitana Bonmati turned away her defender and took off along the right side. From a seemingly impossible angle, the Spanish star then surprised with a hard shot along the ground. The ball sneaked in at the first post, where Berger didn't have time to react.
It's tough, we were so close in many situations and created many set pieces. We really believed we could score a goal. Then it's just incredibly tough that the ball goes in, it feels like it was the worst of all their chances, says former Rosengård player Rebecca Knaak to SVT.
"We deserve it"
Ten minutes later, the referee blew the whistle and announced that Spain will play the European Championship final for the first time in history, on Sunday.
I'm proud, we deserve it. We've had an incredible championship. It was the first time we beat Germany, and we also made it to the final, says Bonmati in Spanish RTVE according to Marca.
The star was hospitalized before the championship with meningitis, and now shot Spain to their first European Championship final.
Rebecca Knaak on Germany's elimination:
We did everything we could. Spain is a top team. But of course, it's a huge disappointment right now.
The final will be a replay of the 2023 World Championship final, when England and Spain also met.
