Euro 2024 final: Spain take on England in Berlin to clinch a record fourth European title, whilst England hope to end a 58-year-long title drought.
ADVERTISEMENTEuro 2024 wraps up on Sunday as Spain take on England at 9pm in Berlin, in the most anticipated football game of the year.
It's going to be the best team against the most resilient.
England are playing an away-from-home final for the first time in their history, with the opportunity to end a 58-year-long trophy-less streak.
The Three Lions reached their second consecutive Euro final after losing the previous one on home soil to Italy in 2021. Beating Spain would mean lifting their first Euro trophy.
Spain, on the contrary, have the opportunity to clinch a record fourth title. They're already the joint all-time top winner with Germany.
La Roja are favourites. They won all six games in the tournament, knocking out top-tier opponents like Germany and France with a series of dominant performances.
England limped through to the final act after conceding first in all knockouts and struggled to show their real potential - except for the semi-final against the Netherlands, where they pulled off a much more aggressive, pacey, and solid display.
Head-to-head record: England on top but only just
Spain and England clashed only 12 times in official games (FIFA World Cup, Euros, qualifiers and Nations League).
England fared better, with five wins over Spain's four. There were three draws. The last face-off was in 2018, a Spain 2-3 England in Seville in the Nations League.
The only knockout in major tournaments took place 28 years ago. The Euro 96 quarter-final saw hosts England knocking Spain out 4-2 on penalties, after a 0-0 draw that also featured current England manager Gareth Southgate.
Fun fact, England v Spain was also the last Women's World Cup final, in 2023. Spain won 1-0.
Spain decisively ahead for bookies and algorithms
Spain stand a 40% chance to win in the ninety minutes, according to Google. A draw fares at 33%, with England having only a 27% chance.
The head-to-head gap is even wider. The OptaAnalyst algorithm foresees a 60.38% possibility Spain will lift the trophy, while England's chance stands at 39.22%.
Bookies are fully aligned and put Spain ahead with an 8/11 chance to win the tournament against England's 13/10. Spain are favourites too in the ninety minutes, with an 8/5 bet price against England's 13/5. A draw stands at about 19/10.
That said, England have the highest-valued squad of the tournament with €1.52bn in player-worth over fourth-placed Spain with €966, Transfermrkt says.
ADVERTISEMENT17-year-old wonderkid Lamine Yamal can make history (again)
Spain have the best attack in the tournament with 13 goals scored, as well as the highest number of different players to have found the back of the net, 10.
Lamine Yamal - the youngest player ever to appear and score in the Euros - has been instrumental to La Roja's play.
The Barcelona winger, who turns 17 on Saturday, scored a brilliant leveller in the semifinal against France, and has three assists. He and his 21-year-old pal Nico Williams have contributed to drastically scaling up Spain's attacking power.
Speaking about Yamal's performance against France, his manager described his goal as "a touch of genius by a great player who we all know and have to nurture forward".
ADVERTISEMENT"And I can only advise him to keep going forward with the same humility and work ethic and with his feet firmly on the ground.
"He will keep improving with the same attitude, professionality and maturity that he shows during games, despite being so young, which makes him look older and more experienced than he really is. But above all, he should enjoy playing for us. Hopefully we can enjoy him for many years.”
Spain's defence will also be stronger as Robin Le Normand and Dani Carvajal return from suspension.
England's Harry Kane sets sight on Euro 2024 Golden Boot
With three goals, England striker Harry Kane is the tournament's joint top-scorer and remains on course to win the tournament's Golden Boot.
ADVERTISEMENTHe converted a penalty to level the semifinal against the Netherlands before Ollie Watkins, who replaced Kane in the second half, scored the winner in stoppage time.
England's other big star, Jude Bellingham, has scored two goals so far, including a spectacular stoppage-time overhead-kick that saved the team from being eliminated by Slovakia in the round of 16.
The Real Madrid midfielder is also rumoured to be on the Ballon d'Or shortlist as he also won the Champions League earlier in the season.
England have got plenty of firepower also with Man City's Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka, both among the best in the semifinal against the Netherlands.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gareth Southgate said he was "immensely proud" to "be able to take England to its first final overseas".
“The only reason I took the job was to try and bring success to England as a nation and try and improve English football".
He conceded England will playing "the best team in the tournament and we have a day less to prepare so it’s a huge task. But we’re still here and we’re fighting.”
Excited UK may grant extra day off if England win
UK's new prime minister Keir Starmer weighed in saying that Britain should "certainly mark the occasion" if England go on to win Euro 2024.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Labour leader's comment came after the Lib Dems called for a bank holiday in case of victory.
But Starmer didn't push it too far as he hasn't forgotten England's lost Euro final in 2021.
"I went to the last finals. I don't want to go through that again so I don't want to jinx anything", he said. "The most important thing is getting it over the line on Sunday."
In 2022, Starmer backed calls for a bank holiday ahead of England's Women's team final in the Euros, which they won. But there was no day off in the end as it was deemed too expensive for the country.
ADVERTISEMENTBank holidays cost the UK economy around £2.9 billion on average, the UK government estimated in 2010.
Pedro Sánchez : 'Spain deservedly favourites'
Speaking at the last NATO summit in Washington, Starmer's counterpart, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Spain "earned to be the favourite" throughout the tournament and congratulated the players upon showing great team spirit.
"All Spain is behind them", he said. "We are extremely proud of our national team and the expectations are great. Let's hope we become champions of Europe on Sunday".
The venue at a glance, Berlin's Olympiastadion
The Olympiastadion is Germany's second-biggest football venue. It has a capacity of more than 74,000 seats, although it originally stored up to 100,000 people.
ADVERTISEMENTThe venue - designed by the March brothers - was built by Nazi Germany in 1936 for the Berlin Olympics. It's renowned for its imponent design, symmetrical architecture, and the iconic Olympic Bell.
It hosted the 2006 FIFA World Cup final won by Italy against France. During the regular football season, it's home to German second-division club Hertha Berlin.
England v Spain will be officiated by Frenchman François Letexier, who at 35 will become the youngest-ever referee in a Euro cup final.