Again, Football Not Going Home as Spain Beat England

Femi Solaja with agency report

The Three Lions of England’s quest to end 58 years of jinx and disappointment fell through again and ended in despair as they were beaten by tournament favourite, Spain in the Euro 2024 final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

The win made Spain the first team to win the European cup for a record four times.

On the same night, Lamine Yamal became the youngest male player to ever appear in a major tournament final, breaking the previous record held by Brazilian legend Pele.

Yamal, who turned 17 the day before the final, has excelled for Spain this summer, racking up one goal and three assists to lead his nation to yesterday’s final against England.

Pele was 17 years and 249 days old when he lined up for Brazil in the final of the 1958 World Cup. The youngster netted twice to seal a 5-2 win over Sweden.

But Gareth Southgate’s side were sunk by Mikel Oyarzabal’s late winner to leave England heartbroken again 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 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 near men once more.

Aside from the win, Spain became the first nation to secure a perfect score in a major tournament by winning all their matches. Seven in all including the final win against England. Before then, they had secured a 3-0 win against Croatia then lone against defending champions Italy and another lone goal win against Albania to complete the group phase.

In the knockout stage, the team posted a 4-1 win over Georgia before Germany’s ouster of 2-1 and the same scoreline in the semi-final against France.