England’s quest to end 58 years of pain and disappointment ended in failure as they were beaten by Spain in the Euro 2024 final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.
Gareth Southgate’s side were sunk by Mikel Oyarzabal’s late winner to leave England heartbroken again in a second successive European Championship final and unable to end the long wait for success for the men’s team.
Spain’s young star wingers combined to give them the lead two minutes after the break as Lamine Yamal’s pass opened up space for Nico Williams to beat England keeper Jordan Pickford with a powerful low finish.
England captain Harry Kane was out of sorts once more and was substituted on the hour and it was Cole Palmer – on for Kobbie Mainoo – who raised hopes of another dramatic comeback with a composed left-foot strike after 73 minutes.
It was Spain, however, who snatched the win four minutes from time as Oyarzabal slid home Marc Cucurella’s cross to leave England the nearly men once more.
England’s hopes of crossing the great divide that has separated them from the major prizes were snatched away by a superior Spain side on a tough night in the German capital.
For all the progress and optimism of Southgate’s eight-year reign, tangible success has escaped them. They have lost two successive European Championship finals, a World Cup semi-final in 2018 and a World Cup quarter-final in Qatar in 2022.
It now remains to be seen whether Southgate stays in charge for the next World Cup, but it may well be that this proves to be one disappointment too far for England’s manager.
