England failed to end 58 years of pain and sadness when they lost the Euro 2024 final to Spain by a score of 2-1 at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.
Mikel Oyarzaba
Mikel Oyarzabal scored a late goal to end Gareth Southgate’s team’s hopes. England was left heartbroken again and unable to end its long wait for success as a men’s team.
Nico Williams to score a decisive low goal
Spain’s young star wingers worked together to take the lead two minutes after halftime. Lamine Yamal’s pass allowed Nico Williams to score a decisive low goal that beat Jackson Pickford in goal for England.
Harry Kane was not in the right mood.
Again, England captain Harry Kane was not in the right mood, so he was taken off after an hour. Cole Palmer came on for Kobbie Mainoo, who gave fans hope for another dramatic return with a calm left-foot strike in the 73rd minute.
Marc Cucurella’s cross.
But Spain won in the last four minutes when Oyarzabal slid home Marc Cucurella’s cross. England was back to being almost a man down again.
England comes up short again.
A better Spanish team beat England on a tough night in the German city, ending their hopes of crossing the big gap that has kept them from the big prizes.
There were many more English fans than Spanish fans at the famous, mostly white stadium. They were hoping that the previous years’ close calls would finally end.
Plus, Palmer’s easy finish 17 minutes from time, against the flow of play, tied the game, which made everyone feel better. There was a good chance that many people thought Southgate’s team would make a comeback like the ones they did against Slovakia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands earlier in Euro 2024.
This time, there was no way out. England was perfectly set up for Oyarzabal’s game-winning goal, which gave Spain the victory they deserved for their play throughout the event.
Declan Rice and Marc Guehi were both cleared off the line
To make things even worse for England, in the last few minutes, headers from Declan Rice and Marc Guehi were both cleared off the line, first by keeper Unai Simon and then by Dani Olmo, who celebrated like he had won the prize, which he did.
Seconds later, it was proven that England was in terrible shape. This means that despite all the progress and hope during Southgate’s eight-year rule, England has not actually achieved any success. They lost the 2018 World Cup semi-final and the 2022 World Cup quarter-final in Qatar. They also lost the last two European Championship games.
Now what? What do Southgate and England do?
Southgate’s deal ends at the end of the year, and it’s unclear if he will stay on.
“Emotionally, it would be impossible for me to make a logical decision on any of that because my sole focus for two years has been winning this tournament,” he said before the match.
England’s next game is against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on September 7. This will be their first Nations League game of the 2024–25 season.
Three days later, they’ll be back at home to play Finland. After England was kicked out of the Nations League the last time, those games are in the second tier.
When Southgate’s contract ends, he will be gone before the 2026 World Cup qualifying starts next year. He will stay for the last six Nations League games.
