UEFA Euro 2024 final
![]() The Olympiastadion in Berlin hosted the final. | |||||||
Event | UEFA Euro 2024 | ||||||
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Date | 14 July 2024 | ||||||
Venue | Olympiastadion, Berlin | ||||||
Man of the Match | Nico Williams (Spain)[1] | ||||||
Referee | François Letexier (France)[2] | ||||||
Attendance | 65,600[3] | ||||||
Weather | Partly cloudy night 22 °C (72 °F) 53% humidity[4] | ||||||
The UEFA Euro 2024 final was a football match that determined the winners of UEFA Euro 2024. The match was the 17th final of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA to decide the champions of Europe. The match was held at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, on 14 July 2024, and was contested by Spain, in their fifth final, and England, in their second overall and consecutive final. It was England's first appearance in a major men's tournament final held on foreign soil.[5][6]
In front of a crowd of 65,600, the final got off to a slow start, with the first half remaining goalless and without much fanfare in front of goal. Spain's Rodri was injured before half time, which forced a subtitution for Martín Zubimendi at the interval. Spain got off to a strong start in the second half, scoring immediately courtesy of a Nico Williams goal assisted by Lamine Yamal, who become the youngest assister in a European Championship final, a powerful shot from inside the box to make it 1–0. Spain had increasing goalscoring opportunities in the second half before Cole Palmer scored a goal from outside the box for England to make it 1–1, three minutes after being substituted into the match. Spain's renewed efforts paid off when Mikel Oyarzabal scored for Spain four minutes from time to make it 2–1, holding on to a fourth European Championship victory. Nico Williams was named Man of the Match, while Rodri received the Player of the Tournament accolade. Lamine Yamal recieved the Best Young Player award and became the youngest player to ever win the competition.
Spain won the match 2–1 for their record–breaking fourth UEFA European Championship title – after 1964, 2008 and 2012, surpassing Germany as the sole record-winners of the competition, having additionally won for the third time in five European Championship competitions. England became the fourth side to appear in two consecutive Euro finals – after the Soviet Union in 1960 and 1964, West Germany in 1972 and 1976, unified Germany in 1992 and 1996, and Spain in 2008 and 2012 – and the first side to lose consecutive finals. Additionally, both sides became the first set of finalists to concede in every knockout game they contested since the tournament's expansion in 1980.[7]
Venue
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Olympiastadion_Berlin_Sep-2015.jpg/250px-Olympiastadion_Berlin_Sep-2015.jpg)
The final was held at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, located in Westend of the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. On 27 September 2018, UEFA announced the 2024 tournament would be held in Germany after they had defeated Turkey in the host selection vote in Nyon, Switzerland.[8][9] The Olympiastadion was chosen as the final venue of the tournament by the UEFA Executive Committee in May 2022, where it was announced it would also host three group stage matches, a round of 16 match, and a quarter-final match in the tournament.[10][11]
The Olympiastadion opened in 1936 on the Olympiapark Berlin which served specifically for the 1936 Summer Olympics.[12] The stadium is owned by the state of Berlin and has been the home stadium of football club Hertha BSC since 1963. The Germany national team has also occasionally played its home matches at the stadium. The Olympiastadion has also hosted several significant matches, including several matches in the 1974 and 2006 World Cups, the latter of which included the final between Italy and France which is notably known for the infamous headbutt of France superstar and captain Zinedine Zidane to Italian centre-back Marco Materazzi resulting in the former receiving a straight red card in his final competitive match and Italy winning the match via penalties 5–3.[13] It has been the venue of every final of the DFB-Pokal since 1985. It also served as the official opening match venue for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup[14] as well as the 2015 UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Juventus.[15]
Route to the final
Spain
Opponent | Result | |
---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
3–0 |
2 | ![]() |
1–0 |
3 | ![]() |
1–0 |
R16 | ![]() |
4–1 |
QF | ![]() |
2–1 (a.e.t.) |
SF | ![]() |
2–1 |
Spain qualified for the tournament as qualifying Group A winners, winning seven of their eight matches with their only loss coming against Scotland, and they were drawn into Group B along with Croatia, current holders Italy and Albania. Spain opened their campaign with a 3–0 win over Croatia at the Olympiastadion, Álvaro Morata opened the scoring for Spain in the 29th minute, then Fabián Ruiz doubled their advantage in the 32nd minute and Dani Carvajal then added a third for Spain in the 47th minute. By starting this match, Lamine Yamal became the youngest player to make an appearance at a UEFA European Championship final tournament.[16][17] Spain then played title holders and arch-rivals, Italy at the Arena AufSchalke winning 1–0 with the sole goal coming from a Riccardo Calafiori own goal in the 55th minute.[18] They then rounded off their group stage campaign with another 1–0 win over Albania at the Merkur Spiel-Arena with the lone goal scored by Ferran Torres in the 13th minute, with Spain manager Luis de la Fuente making wholesale changes to the starting eleven due to Spain having already secured top-spot in their group.[19]
In the knockout stage, Spain played the third-placed team from Group F in the Round of 16, Georgia – who were making their UEFA Euros debut – at the RheinEnergieStadion where Spain won 4–1 with goals for the Spanish from Rodri in the 39th minute, Fabián in the 51st minute, Nico Williams in the 75th minute and Dani Olmo in the 83rd minute. Robin Le Normand scored an own goal which acted as a consolation goal for Georgia in the 18th minute.[20] In the quarter-finals, Spain played hosts Germany at the MHPArena, in a re-match of the UEFA Euro 2008 final, which Spain won 1–0. This time Spain won again 2–1 after extra time with Olmo opening the scoring for Spain in the 51st minute, Florian Wirtz then equalised for Germany in the 89th minute. However, Mikel Merino scored in the 119th minute to send Spain through to the semi-finals and eliminate Julian Nagelsmann's hosts at the last-eight stage.[21] In the semi-finals, Spain played 2022 FIFA World Cup runners-up, France at the Allianz Arena, in a re-match of both the UEFA Euro 1984 final and the 2021 UEFA Nations League final, both of which France won. However, Spain won this time with Randal Kolo Muani opening the scoring for the French in the 9th minute, but Yamal then equalised for the Spanish in the 21st minute and Olmo then scored the winner for Spain in the 25th minute – this was originally given as a Jules Koundé own goal but after a review was given to Olmo – this sent Spain through to their first UEFA European Championship final since the UEFA Euro 2012 final against Italy which they won 4–0. Yamal also became the youngest player to score in a UEFA European Championship.[22][23]
England
Opponent | Result | |
---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
1–0 |
2 | ![]() |
1–1 |
3 | ![]() |
0–0 |
R16 | ![]() |
2–1 (a.e.t.) |
QF | ![]() |
1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p) |
SF | ![]() |
2–1 |
England qualified for the tournament as Group C winners, winning six of their eight qualification matches.[24] England were drawn into Group C along with Serbia, Denmark, and Slovenia. England opened their campaign with a 1–0 win over Serbia at the Arena AufSchalke, with Jude Bellingham scoring in the 13th minute.[25] England then played Denmark at the Waldstadion, in a re-match of the semi-final at the previous European Championships which England won 2–1 after extra time. This time it ended in a 1–1 draw. Harry Kane scored early on in the 18th minute , but Denmark's Morten Hjulmand equalised before half time in the 34th minute.[26] England finished the group stage by facing Slovenia at the RheinEnergieStadion, which ended goalless.[27] England finished top of the group with five points, and progressed to the knockout stage to play a third place team from one of Groups D, E, or F.[27]
In the knockout stage, England played the third-placed team from Group E in the round of 16, Slovakia at the Arena AufSchalke where England won 2–1. Ivan Schranz opened the scoring for Slovakia in the 25th minute. At the end of the second half, England were seconds away from being knocked out of the competition before Bellingham’s bicycle kick goal in the 5th minute of added time sent the game into extra time. Kane immediately scored after extra time started, in the 91st minute.[28] In the quarter-finals, England played Switzerland at the Merkur Spiel-Arena, where they drew 1–1 after extra time, with Breel Embolo opening the scoring for Switzerland in the 75th minute and Bukayo Saka then equalising for England in the 80th minute. With the scores still level after extra time, the match went to a penalty shoot-out, which England won 5–3 with Cole Palmer, Bellingham, Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold all converting their penalties for England and Fabian Schär, Xherdan Shaqiri and Zeki Amdouni all converting their penalty kicks for Switzerland. Only Manuel Akanji missed the opening Switzerland penalty, which was saved by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.[29] In the semi-finals, England played the Netherlands at the Westfalenstadion where England won 2–1. Xavi Simons opened the scoring for the Dutch in the 7th minute, however Kane then equalised after a controversial penalty kick was awarded for a foul on Kane by Denzel Dumfries following a VAR (video assistant referee) review in the 18th minute. England then won the game very late on when Palmer assisted Ollie Watkins to score in the 90th minute, sending them through to their first major tournament final outside of their home country, and their second consecutive European Championship final after appearing in the UEFA Euro 2020 final at Wembley Stadium which they lost to Italy.[30]
Head-to-head
Their most recent encounter in a senior men's major tournament was the Euro 1996 quarter-final, which England won 4–2 on penalties after a 0–0 draw. The current England manager Gareth Southgate was a starting centre back for The Three Lions in that game. Spain's only victory over England in a major tournament was a 1–0 win in the 1950 FIFA World Cup group stage match.[31]
The two teams' latest competitive matches were in League A of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, with both teams winning away from home; Spain won 2–1 at Wembley while England won 3–2 at the Estadio Benito Villamarin in Seville.[31]
Across men's and women's, youth and senior football, it is the fourth England–Spain tournament final in just over a year, after the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final, the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup final and the 2024 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship final.[32] The 2023 Under-21 Championship final was won 1–0 by England and featured Álex Baena (for Spain), Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon (both for England), who are all in the squads for Euro 2024.[33]
Pre-match
Notable attendees
The match was attended by Prince William, the heir apparent to the British throne and President of the Football Association, together with his eldest son Prince George.[34] He also attended the previous tournament's final at Wembley and the Women's Euro 2022 final at the same venue and awarded winner's medals to the victorious England women's team afterwards.[35] Downing Street also confirmed that Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, would also attend.[36]
From Spain, both King Felipe VI and her daughter, Infanta Sofía, attended the match.
Closing ceremony
Italian music group Meduza, American pop rock band OneRepublic and German pop singer Leony performed the official song of UEFA Euro 2024 finals tournament called "Fire".[37]
Referees
On 11 July 2024, the UEFA Referees Committee announced that French referee François Letexier, who refereed three other games at Euro 2024, would be the referee for the final.[38] At 35, he was the youngest referee of a European Championship final.[39] Letexier was joined by Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni as assistant referees, while Polish referee Szymon Marciniak was the fourth official. The video assistant referees (VAR) were French official Jérôme Brisard, assisted by fellow Frenchman Willy Delajod and supported by Italian referee Massimiliano Irrati. Polish referee Tomasz Listkiewicz was the reserve assistant referee.[2]
Match
Summary
Rodri suffered a hamstring injury in the first half and was substituted at half-time.[40] After a goalless first half, Nico Williams gave Spain the lead in the 47th minute early in the second half, following an assist by Lamine Yamal.[40][41] Cole Palmer scored the temporary equalizer in the 73rd minute off of a short pass from Jude Bellingham,[40] as Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winning goal from a cross by Marc Cucurella just four minutes before the 90 minute mark.[40][41]
Details
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Spain[4]
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() England[4]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[2]
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Match rules[42]
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Statistics
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See also
References
- ^ a b "Official UEFA EURO 2024 final Vivo Player of the Match: Spain's Nico Williams". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "François Letexier to referee UEFA EURO 2024 final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Full Time Report – Spain v England" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "Tactical Line-ups – Spain v England" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Euro 2024 final: England must be 'tactically perfect' to beat Spain - Gareth Southgate". BBC Sport. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ "UEFA Euro 2024 match schedule" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ "Spain 2–1 England: Late Oyarzabal winner earns La Roja record fourth EURO crown". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Germany to host UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. UEFA. 27 September 2018.
- ^ "Euro 2024: Germany beats Turkey to host tournament". BBC Sport. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ "Uefa EURO 2024 Final in the Olympiade stadion Berlin, Six Games in the Capital". Olympiastadion Berlin. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ "EURO 2024 host cities: Venue guide". UEFA.com. UEFA. 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ "Olympic Stadium". Berlin.de. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Italy – France". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ^ "Nine Host Cities announced". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 30 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011.
- ^ "Executive Committee decides hosts for 2015 finals". UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 23 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Spain 3–0 Croatia | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Lamine Yamal sets new record as youngest player to feature at a UEFA European Championship". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 15 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Spain 1–0 Italy | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Albania 0–1 Spain | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Spain 4–1 Georgia | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Spain 2–1 Germany | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Spain 2–1 France | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Lamine Yamal: Spain 'superstar' makes his mark at Euro 2024". BBC Sport. 9 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Euro 2024: Who has qualified? Who is in the play-offs? Who has failed to qualify?". BBC Sport. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "England 1–0 Serbia". BBC Sport. 15 June 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "England 1–1 Denmark: England miss chance to reach last 16 after frustrating draw in Frankfurt". BBC Sport. 19 June 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ a b "England 0–0 Slovenia: England frustrated in Slovenia draw but still top group". BBC Sport. 24 June 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "England 2–1 Slovakia | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "England 1–1 Switzerland | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "Netherlands 1–2 England | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Previous meetings between England and Spain ahead of Euro 2024 final". The Independent. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ Culpepper, Chuck (19 August 2023). "Shiny and new, it's England and Spain for a World Cup final that fits". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
- ^ Howell, Alex (7 July 2023). "England U21 1–0 Spain U21: England win Under-21 Euros for first time in 39 years". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "William and George see England heartbreak at Euro 2024 final". BBC News. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Hollie, Cole (12 July 2024). "Prince William to attend Euro 2024 final in Berlin". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ^ Rhoden-Paul, André (11 July 2024). "Euro 2024: I don't want to jinx it, Starmer says about Euros bank holiday". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ^ "Meduza, OneRepublic and Leony release UEFA EURO 2024 official song FIRE". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 May 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "French referee François Letexier picked to handle Spain-England final of Euro 2024". Associated Press. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "EURO 2024 final referee Letexier primed for action". uefa.com. 13 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Spain 2 England 1: Oyarzabal the unlikely hero with late winner as Spain win Euro 2024". The Athletic (in eng). 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ a b Begley, Emlyn (14 July 2024). "Defeat extends England's '58 years of hurt'". BBC. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship, 2022–24". Union of European Football Associations. 10 May 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ a b c "Team statistics" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.