Spain vs England Preview

After a month of endless football, the 2024 European Championship will climax this Sunday when three-time winners Spain face last-time finalists England at the Olympiastadion.

Despite having a relatively low profile pre-tournament, Spain have been the best team in Germany this summer. La Roja have won four of their five games at the Euros, with their 2-1 win over hosts Germany one of their biggest achievements in the tournament.

Luis de la Fuente’s side also beat France on their way to the final with that comeback win over Didier Deschamps’ side particularly helping to highlight the immense talent of 16-year-old Lamine Yamal whose curler against France means he is now the youngest goalscorer in the history of the European Championships and the World Cup.

The teenager turns 17 the day before the final and will be a constant threat having directly contributed to a goal in each of La Roja’s knockout matches (G1, A2). De La Fuente will hope he can inspire his side to a win here as Spain look to become the outright record holders of the European title having won it three times, the same number as Germany.

They have the base to achieve that as La Roja has also put together an eight-match winning streak. Incidentally, the last time they managed nine in succession was in 2012, a run that included lifting the European Championship trophy. In Luis de la Fuente, they seemingly have the perfect man in the dugout, too, as he guided the Spanish under-19 and under-23 sides to European glory earlier in his career.

Meanwhile, unlike Spain, which dazzled its way to the final, England’s run to the final has been nothing short of a miracle. The Three Lions were the pre-tournament favourites but a series of drab performances and lucky escapes meant the tag went to Spain and Germany at some point.

However, those postulations and tags won’t matter now as Gareth Southgate’s side are in the final–their second European Championship final in a row–courtesy of a 2-1 comeback win over the Netherlands last time out. They will consider that win a timely booster as the Dutch are the highest-ranked nation England have eliminated from a major tournament since beating Spain in the quarter-finals of the 1996 European Championships on penalties.

That makes up part of a perfect head-to-head record against Spain at European Championships (W4), perhaps inspiring hope that the Three Lions can avenge their defeat to Italy in the final of the 2020 edition.

Southgate’s men will have to be at their very best to tame the silky Spaniards, but they’re not short of resilience should they fall behind as they’re the only side in history to reach the final having trailed in both the quarter-final and semi-final.