Euro 2024 final: England’s ’58 years of suffering’ prolonged by defeat to Spain

England came from behind for the fourth consecutive game, this time with a late winner from Mikel Oyarzabal to win 2-1.

Nico Williams put Spain ahead early in the second half, but a brilliant Cole Palmer equaliser looked to have sent the game into extra time, but Oyarzabal scored to put the game back on track four minutes from time.

It was Gareth Southgate’s side’s second consecutive defeat in a European Championship final after losing to Italy on penalties in 2021. Their only previous major final appearance was in 1966.

England are yet to win a senior overseas football tournament, but both the 1966 triumph and the Women’s Euro 2022 final, which England won, were played at Wembley Stadium.

Southgate’s contract runs out at the end of the year, so this could be his final major tournament after eight years in charge.

England started slowly in Germany, their performance was criticised and the Three Lions were on the brink of elimination twice, but they gave England fans dreams in the past two rounds – until they were defeated by Spain, who were the outstanding team throughout the tournament.

When England won their home World Cup in 1966, beating West Germany 4-2 in the final with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick, many fans may not have imagined that it would be England’s only victory for at least 60 years.

Since then, they have played in a combined 29 Men’s World Cups and European Championships but had never reached the final until 2021.

England fans were reminded of all the close losses in major knockout stages, including Diego Maradona’s handball in 1986 and penalty shootout defeats to Germany in 1990 and 1996, the latter of which was missed by current manager Southgate.

And there were years when they didn’t even come close to winning, failing to qualify for the 1994 World Cup or the 2008 Euros and being eliminated in the group stage.

It felt like all that might change in 2021, when England reached the Euro 2020 final on the continent, even though most of the matches, including the final against Italy, were played at Wembley Stadium.

They took an early lead but lost on penalties after extra time. It is a great achievement for Southgate and his team that after a 55-year wait for this final, we are now playing in another one just three years later.

But this too ended in tears.

The Lionesses also won the 2022 European Championships, beating Germany 2-1, also at Wembley Stadium.

It would be an understatement to say that England’s Euro 2024 campaign is progressing slowly.

Following the win over Serbia, they finished with draws against Denmark and Slovenia in the group stage.

If Denmark had scored a late winner in their final group game against Serbia, England would have finished second – and perhaps their journey to the final would have been tougher.

After the disappointing result against Slovenia, some England fans threw the Cup at Southgate and social media was flooded with memes depicting the manager in various overly cautious scenarios.

Their performance in the round of 16 match against Slovakia was also not that great and defeat looked certain, but Jude Bellingham’s overhead kick in added time sent the game into extra time, where Harry Kane scored the winning goal.

Some supporters continued to call for Southgate’s sacking after the match, just as Ivory Coast did with their manager on their way to winning this year’s Africa Cup of Nations.

But moods seemed to brighten when they switched from a back four to wing-backs in the quarter-final against Switzerland, with Bukayo Saka scoring with 10 minutes to go and the team winning on penalties.

England lost again to the Netherlands in the semi-finals, but Ollie Watkins’ 90th minute goal sent them through to the final once again.

The last two games weren’t spectacular and they played in their shell at times, but they were a far cry from their early matches.

Euro fever spread across England and Germany, with thousands of fans travelling to watch the action up close, only to return home without the trophy.

While there were no hat-trick heroes like Hurst, there are still plenty of names that have made their way into the folklore of English football.

Chelsea’s Palmer became just the fourth player to score in an England men’s final, joining Hurst, Martin Peters and Luke Shaw.

Bayern Munich striker Kane is yet to win the first trophy of his goal-packed career but he improved as England’s all-time leading scorer with three goals and shared the Golden Boot award, while Real Madrid’s Bellingham scored two goals, including a brilliant last-minute equaliser against Slovakia.

This increases Bellingham’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or after winning the Champions League and La Liga in his first season with Real.

All five goals were crucial as England had never won by more than a single goal.

Aston Villa striker Watkins didn’t get much playing time but produced one of his team’s best moments with a brilliant turn and finish in the final minute of the Netherlands semi-final.

Arsenal winger Saka scored a late equaliser against Switzerland in the quarter-final and then scored in the subsequent penalty shootout – a cathartic moment for a player who missed his penalty in the 2021 final.

Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford helped the team win the shootout with a save from Swiss defender Manuel Akanji, his only miss from nine attempts.

Southgate’s contract expires at the end of the year and it is unclear whether he will stay.

“I don’t think now is a good time to make such a decision,” he said later.

“You need to talk to the right people. Not right now.”

England’s next match will be against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on 7 September in their first match of the 2024-25 Nations League.

England’s next home game is against Finland three days later, with both games being played in the second tier of the Nations League after England were relegated last time out.

If Southgate steps down at the end of his contract, it will be after six Nations League games but before the start of next year’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers.