Sweden's footballers have reached the semi-finals of a European Football Championship for the ninth time with a goal in the last second.

The Olympic bronze medalist defeated the blatant outsider Belgium 1-0 (0-0) in Leigh with some difficulty and is now challenging hosts England in Sheffield on Tuesday.

Linda Sembrant (90 + 2) scored in the pouring rain for Sweden, which had recently been hit by three corona cases and several suspected cases.

The Belgians put up a big fight against the favorites in their first knockout game at a major tournament, but just missed out on the potential upset.

The 7517 spectators saw a one-sided encounter from the start.

Sweden, who won their only title at the first ever women's European Championship in 1984, created numerous chances without reward.

A goal by Stina Blackstenius (24th) was disallowed after studying the TV pictures because the Swede was millimeters offside.

At the break the goal shot ratio was 15:1 for Sweden.

The favorite also dominated in the round, but acted increasingly unimaginative.

Only Sembrant made everything clear shortly before the end.

The last quarter-final between France and the Netherlands will take place on Saturday (9 p.m.).