Spain faces England in Berlin on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET in the UEFA Euro Cup finals in a legacy-defining clash for both countries.
A victory for Spain would make La Furia Roja the most successful nation in the competition’s history, as it aims to surpass Germany with a record four European titles. The Spanish are the only team to have won every game in the tournament thus far, playing convincing and entertaining soccer that has seen teenager Lamine Yamal burst onto the international scene.
England’s journey to the final stands in stark contrast. The Three Lions drew two of their three group-stage matches. They squeaked by the Slovakians and the Swiss thanks to a last-minute bicycle kick from star player Jude Bellingham and penalty shootout heroics, and only seemed to find their mojo in the semifinals against the Dutch. A triumphant final would bring England its first major honor for the men's team since taking home the World Cup in 1966.
For Spain, Yamal has been the standout story of the tournament. The youngster, who turned 17 years old Saturday, became the youngest player ever to score at a Euros with his screamer against the French in the semifinals. The Barcelona academy product also notched three assists during the tournament, a tantalizing tally for a teenager still too young to legally drive a car in Spain.
In a press conference after scoring against France in the semifinals, Yamal was asked how he manages the pressure of being the tournament’s protagonist and Spain’s icon at such a young age.
“I try not to focus on that, on being the icon or the player,” he said. “In the end, that doesn’t really help anything on the pitch.”
England has a wunderkind of its own, with 19-year-old Kobbie Mainoo becoming a mainstay in the midfield as the tournament has progressed. But it’s the English manager, Gareth Southgate, not the teenage midfield metronome, who’s been grabbing headlines in the British press.
Southgate’s record at major tournaments as England’s manager impresses, with a semifinal berth at the 2018 World Cup and bringing England to the final of the last Euro Cup, where it lost on penalties to the Italians. But despite his relative success, Southgate’s pragmatic and at times cautious style has made the manager much maligned by pundits.
“We all want to be loved,” Southgate said after his team’s 2-1 win over the Netherlands on Wednesday. “When you’re doing something for your country, and you’re a proud Englishman, and you don’t feel that back, and when all you read is criticism, it’s hard.”
For all the heat Southgate has faced in England, Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente has been lavished with praise in Iberia.
Spain’s possession-based style, which saw the team win its first World Cup in 2010, sandwiched between Euro Cup titles in 2008 and 2012, became impotent in subsequent years. Spain’s tendency to dominate possession of the ball without many goals to show for it saw the team knocked out early in the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cups. But since his appointment as Spain’s manager in 2022, de la Fuente transformed its style, injecting pace and directness on the wings through Yamal on the right and 22-year-old Nico Williams on the left.
A victory for Spain in Berlin would bookend its metamorphosis into a team fully adapted to soccer’s 2024 style of play. Silverware for England on Sunday would be the ultimate vindication for Southgate, whose tenure has so far been tagged as “always the bridesmaid, never the bride.”
While Euro Cup finals are often low-scoring, nervy affairs, both teams have enough quality on display to produce an enthralling final, similar to the 2022 World Cup final, which saw six goals and a penalty shootout.
