Spain crowned champions of Europe with EURO 2024 victory over England

by Daniel Neuner

After taking care of tournament favorites France in the semi finals, Spain crushed England’s hopes of hardware with a 2-1 final win in Berlin, thanks to a late goal from Mikel Oyarzabal in the 86th minute.

The semi finals were set; four heavyweight titans remained: France, Spain, England, and Netherlands. Each squad had undergone a much different experience in the tournament leading up to this point.

France, the tournament favorite and FIFA number two in the world, had somehow wiggled their way to the semi finals without scoring a single goal in open play. Two own goals, an Mbappé penalty, and a 0-0 victory against Portugal had unexpectedly propelled the talented team through the group and knockout stages.

Spain, on the other hand, had exceeded expectations and stood out as the best performing team in the tournament. In contrast to France, any struggle to handle competition was non-existent for the Spaniards. With an average of 2.2 goals per game and having allowed just two goals in five games, Spain’s cohesive and dynamic playing style had caused trouble for opponents all tournament long.

Having gained a reputation for being highly-criticized by their own fan base due to their inability to go all the way in tournaments like the Euros and the World Cup, England was determined to change the story with a complete run in the knockout stage of EURO 2024. 

But a near Round of 16 exit to Slovakia, prevented only by a goal in stoppage time by Jude Bellingham and another in extra time from Harry Kane, raised a lot of eyebrows. With manager Gareth Southgate’s job on the line, most fans expected England to take the wake-up call and put on a better performance in their quarterfinal match versus Switzerland.

Instead, the game, evoking so much deja vu that it almost felt like a dream for England fans, ended up being another close call win for the Three Lions. Down a goal with ten minutes to go, England’s Bukayo Saka finally found the back of the net, ultimately sending the game to penalties, which England won 5-3.

Netherlands had faced somewhat easy competition in the early stages of the tournament. In addition to a match against France in the group stage that ended in a 0-0 draw, their matchups had been Poland (2-1), Austria (2-3), Romania (3-0), and Turkey (2-1).

For three days, the world held its breath as it awaited the clash of superstars on July 9. Would world-renowned Frenchman Kylian Mbappé shift France into a higher gear, or would sixteen year old Lamine Yamal help Spain punch their ticket to a final match in Berlin?

Amid a buzz of hype and speculation, one of France’s own players had some choice words for Spain’s Yamal.

“Obviously it could be difficult for him to deal with a semifinal in a big tournament.…And to reach a final at the Euros, he needs to do more than he’s done up until now,” said Adrien Rabiot who later added that France would “make Lamine Yamal as uncomfortable as possible.”

In response, Yamal took to his Instagram account and posted a mysterious image on his story with a chess piece being moved and the words “move in silence, only speak when it’s time to say checkmate”.

When the two teams took the field, it didn’t take long for France to push past their scoring drought. Randal Kolo Muani scored a header in the ninth minute and, for just the second time all tournament long, Spain were trailing.

But twelve minutes later, Lamine Yamal, with the ball outside the box and nemesis Rabiot a few feet in front of him, took a risk and shocked the stadium with a blistering top-corner goal. Yamal defied the odds by tying up the game at 1-1 with a scoring opportunity that had just a two percent chance of being a goal, according to the Fotmob xG calculation.

Four minutes later, midfielder Dani Olmo scored a skillful and poised goal to give Spain the lead they’d become accustomed to in the Euros. With a beatiful first touch, he settled the ball and sent it off French defender Jules Koundé and past goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

The second half didn’t yield a goal for either side, and Spain earned their deserved spot in the final on July 14.

Yamal celebrated the final whistle by saying “habla ahora, habla ahora” to the cameras. Translated to “speak now, speak now”, the blunt phrase wasn’t hard for fans to interpret, with Yamal’s spat with Rabiot lingering in recent memory.

When asked in the post match press conference about the remark, the man of the match simply said, “It was for a person…he knows it’s for him.”

The next day, the Netherlands-England semi final commenced with a first half of excitement and scoring much like the day prior.

In the seventh minute, Dutch midfielder Xavi Simmons scored a wonder-strike from outside the box that English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford could only get a few fingers on. As the Netherlands squad celebrated in front of a crowd of orange shirts in the stands, England fans were stunned.

In the next five minutes, England captain Harry Kane had two good looks at goal, the second of which went over the crossbar. But after this attempt, the referee headed to VAR and determined that right back Denzel Dumfries’ defensive effort on the play was enough to grant England a penalty. Kane stepped up to the spot, and even though goalkeeper Bart Verburggen dove the right way, the captain’s perfect shot placement to the bottom left corner was enough to tie the contest at 1-1.

The entire second half went without a goal, and the stadium’s anxiety levels began to ramp up as the clock ticked toward 90 minutes. In the 81st minute, Gareth Southgate made a double substitution that left spectators bewildered. He took Kane, the team captain and Bundesliga top scorer, off the field for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins. Furthermore, Southgate subbed off Premier League Player of the Year Phil Foden in exchange for Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer.

But in the first minute of added time, Southgate’s doubters were hushed. Palmer played the ball upfield to Watkins, who with his back to the defender turned around with the ball and shot it in near the far post. The Englishmen lived to fight another day.

“The quality of their performance was outstanding,” said Southgate of his players. “The fact that two of the substitutes combined just shows the spirit that they have as a group.”

After a few days of rest, Spain and England entered a packed Berlin arena on the night of July 14.

Despite the saving efforts from Watkins and Palmer in the semi final, neither player made his way onto Southgate’s starting XI. But on the Spanish side, there wasn’t any controversy over the starting attackers, Alvaro Morata, Nico Williams, Dani Olmo, and Lamine Yamal.

The first half ended scoreless. But despite the even scoreline, Spain clearly had the upper hand; the Spaniards had 69 percent of possession and had completed 265 passes, as opposed to England’s 100.

Bad news came for Spain, however, at the beginning of the second half. Their star defensive midfielder Rodri had to be taken off the pitch due to injury. 

What could have been a wrench in Spain’s ability to control play in the second half ended up not causing them any trouble. Less than two minutes into the second half, Yamal passed the ball across the box to an open Nico Williams, who calmly capitalized on the opportunity. The deadlock was broken, and Spain was ahead in the EURO 2024 final.

Just like in the semi final, Palmer took to the pitch for England late in the match. It didn’t take long for him to make an impact. Three minutes after his substitution in the 70th minute, Palmer was fed the ball by Jude Bellingham and unleashed a forceful low ball from outside of the box, beating Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon and putting England back into the game.

As time ticked away without anyone stepping up to win the match for their nation, it seemed that the European Championship wouldn’t be decided in 90 minutes. That was until the 86th minute when Spanish left back Marc Cucurella sliced the ball into the penalty area for substitute Mikel Oyarzabal to tap in for Spain. Luis de la Fuente’s squad had found a way, and Southgate didn’t have any tricks left in his sleeve.

“I’m devastated for everyone, really, but the players have been absolutely incredible,” said Southgate.

After Rodri was awarded Player of the Tournament and Young Player of the Tournament was given to Yamal, Spain was crowned champions of Europe for the first time since 2012.

“Spain is the most beautiful country because of what we have in here…in the heart. We have been working in silence for many years, the results weren’t there,” said Rodri after the match. “We never gave up, and this is history.”