Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal, center, scores his side's second goal during the final match between Spain and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Spain beat England 2-1 in a dramatic Euro 2024 final on Sunday, standing up to the tournament's comeback kings and rising back to the top of European soccer in style.
Mikel Oyarzabal, off the bench as a second-half substitute, scored the decisive goal in the 86th minute, knifing between English defenders and sliding a fine finish past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
And the Spaniards, the undisputed best team of the tournament, the toast of soccer purists, the chief storytellers, the top goalscorers, roared to their fourth European title.
They had already knocked off Germany and France. They had won six of six, and arrived in Berlin favored to win a seventh match in a row, this blockbuster final against an underperforming England team overflowing with talent.
They showed why throughout a crescendoing second half. The first 45 minutes had been cagey, dragged to a near-halt by England's defensiveness. Spain, though, sent the second 45 erupting into life.
In the 47th minute, they took the lead. The Spanish wave rolled back to front, then right to left, pulling Englishmen out of position and sweeping them aside. Fabián Ruiz passed to Dani Carvajal; Carvajal flicked the ball to Lamine Yamal; when it found him, Alvaro Morata and Dani Olmo came alive.
Their runs yanked John Stones and Kyle Walker, respectively, toward the play and away from Nico Williams, who was lurking in wait on the far side.
Yamal picked out Williams, who needed only one emphatic touch to break English resistance.
Lamine Yamal dishes it off to Nico Williams for the lead 🙌
The goal epitomized La Roja's renaissance. Yamal and Williams, two delightful and youthful wingers, were the ones who transformed a decent team into a dynamic unit. For years, Spain had controlled games but lacked directness and end product. These two, with their skill and unbridled energy, unlocked sturdy opponents, and at the Olympiastadion, forced England to come out of its shell.
Even then, however, Spain continued to ascend. For 25 minutes, most seasoned eyes could only see one potential winner.
Palmer, Chelsea's stone-cold, slim, understated star, entered in the 70th minute. In the 73rd, out of almost nowhere, he slotted a 20-yard shot through Spanish bodies, past goalkeeper Unai Simón, and into a net that, until that point, England had hardly even threatened to find.
But the equalizer was a blip, not a momentum-swinger. Spain stayed steady, and resumed its ascent. Yamal, one day past his 17th birthday, tested Pickford. A few minutes later, Oyarzabal — onside by perhaps only a few inches — beat him.
And Spain, which has arguably done more than any other nation to shape modern soccer, became the first to win four men's European championships.
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FINAL score: England 1-2 Spain
47' Nico Williams scores for Spain off an assist from Lamine Yamal.
73' England's Cole Palmer scores the equalizer off a Jude Bellingham assist.
86' Marc Cucurella sets up Mikel Oyarzabal, who puts Spain back in the lead.
Taking Kane off has transformed England. They were one-dimensional and had no outlet, but now they have a front three like Liverpool at their best under Klopp
The suddenly worrying question for England, after a mostly organized but toothless first 50+ minutes that hued close to what they wanted:
Where exactly — and how exactly — does an equalizer come about?
Will Kane take the one or two chances he’ll likely get? Is it the second ball off a free kick deep in the Spanish third? Is it Saka or Bellingham on the counter? Does Southgate go to his bench early? Tough to say.
Then again, maybe England should just focus on surviving this spell without conceding a second
Through 40 minutes, the game has been A) very tactical, B) slow-paced, and C) disrupted by some fouls and minor injuries earlier.
Getting a bit more lively closer to halftime, but still 0-0.
Joey Gulino
Even as England have grown into the game, they’re not getting stretched out of their deeper-lying setup defensively. Which is key, because arguably the No. 1 way Spain beats you is by stretching you thin with direct play from Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal. As long as England maintains their four across the back while out of possession (five really, with Mainoo or Rice tucking in the middle), then Spain’s wingers can try to be direct all they want, they’ll just have Kyle Walker and Luke Shaw, both of whom can hold up in space, right in their face with help in behind.
England hardly produced anything resembling an attack over the first 15 minutes of this game.
But ever since their first real venture forward, via a Jude Bellingham pass out to Bukayo Saka on the right, they've seemed more comfortable. This feels like a 50-50 game now
Henry Bushnell
Spain's first real opportunity to attack space...
Fabian Ruiz plays Nico Williams into space down the left, and Williams drives at John Stones 1-on-1.
Stones did really, really well to keep his balance and make a sliding tackle in the penalty area.
Prior to the Euros and Copa América, I wrote a piece on how the two tournaments would influence the "best player in the world" debate — which, at the time, seemed open-ended.
One player on the fringes of that conversation was Rodri, "the rock at the heart of Manchester City, a conductor and destroyer and occasional clutch goalscorer all packed into one."
The argument against his inclusion was that he's a system player, elevated by Pep Guardiola's Man City machine.
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