Berlin – With goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain beat England 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and lifted its fourth European Championship in history after those it won in 1964, 2008 and 2012.
Williams put Spain ahead early in the first half after taking advantage of a Lamine Yamal assist and beating Jordan Pickford with a cross. Cole Palmer then equalised in the 73rd minute with a great left-footed strike from outside the area. And finally, in the 87th minute, Oyarzabal scored the winning goal after finishing off a Cucurella cross.
Spain and England went into the half-time break in the Euro 2024 final without goals, after a first half with more tension than football, without clear goal-scoring chances and with only one intervention by Jordan Pickford on a shot by Fabián Ruiz.
De la Fuente’s side were unable to display the qualities that have led them to the final with a full house of victories in six games in the first half, unable to overcome Gareth Southgate’s approach to create scoring opportunities. They were more dominant than an England side that looked for the counterattack and did not worry Unai Simón until added time with a shot from Foden.
The Spanish side returned after the break with clear ideas and, two minutes in, Nico Williams opened the scoring, after an assist from Lamine Yamal, with a powerful shot that Jordan Pickford could do nothing about.
England proved they were not an opponent to be easily beaten and Cole Palmer, who came on as a substitute for Kobbie Mainoo, scored on his first chance to restore hope to the English side, equalising the score in the 73rd minute at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany.
With just four minutes remaining, Mikel Oyarzabal, who had replaced Morata, scored Spain’s second and decisive goal, giving the Spanish team a full victory in Germany and its fourth European Championship.
Spain still had to put in a lot of effort in defence in the final stretch when Unai Simón and then Dani Olmo on the goal line prevented the final from going into 30 minutes of extra time. Olmo celebrated the move as if it had been another goal.
The scoreboard would not change and in the 94th minute the referee declared the match and the tournament over.
Nico and Oyarzabal increase the number of Spanish scorers in finals to seven
Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal added their names to the history of the Spanish national team, increasing the number of scorers in Euro finals to seven, a path started by Marcelino Martínez and joined by Fernando Torres, David Silva, Jordi Alba and Juan Mata.
Spain became the first team to win four editions of the European Championship, in five finals played. Goals from Nico Williams and Oyarzabal propelled them to collective and individual glory, becoming the sixth and seventh scorers in the most important match of the tournament.
Fernando Torres remains Spain’s top scorer in Euro finals thanks to the two goals he scored in the victories in 2008 and 2012. He gave the victory against Germany in Vienna and contributed to the biggest win in a major final, 4-0 by Spain over Italy, in kyiv.
In that encounter with Marcelino, who scored the first goal in a Euro Cup final that gave Spain the title in 1964, David Silva, Jordi Alba and Juan Mata added to the list of scorers in the greatest goal-scoring display in a major tournament final.
Spain in the elite twelve years later
The fourth European Championship in the history of the Spanish national team, won in Berlin by beating England 2-1, the sixth title in its history after winning the European tournament also in 1964, 2008 and 2012, the 2010 World Cup and the 2023 Nations League, returns it to the elite twelve years after its last great success, increasing the merit on the road full of world champions to glory.
Germany, France and England make up the most difficult route to the title that Spain has ever taken in any of its successes. They did so under the guidance of Luis De la Fuente, the fourth coach to win a European Championship after José Villalonga, Luis Aragonés and Vicente del Bosque.
The Riojan equals his admired Del Bosque as the most successful coaches with his second conquest. Firstly, ending an eleven-year drought of success in the 2023 Nations League and elevating his coaching career with the European Championship in Germany.
Euro 2024 final data
The Spanish team, champion of Euro 2024 against England with a 2-1 victory at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, proposed almost twice as many attacks as its rival, 60 to 31; made 250 more passes, 496 to 246; controlled 67 percent of possession and shot five times on goal compared to three for its opponent to win the title.
This is how UEFA’s official statistics describe the match, which also state that the Spanish team attempted 15 shots to their opponent’s nine, with the aforementioned five and three on target; a distance of 109.1 kilometres by the Spanish players compared to 108.6 by the English; and two saves by Unai Simón compared to three by Jordan Pickford.
Spain : Unai Simon, Carvajal, Laporte, Le Normand (Nacho, m.83), Cucurella; Rodri (Zubimendi, m.46), Fabian, Dani Olmo; Lamine Yamal (Mikel Merino, m.89), Nico Williams and Morata (Oyarzabal, m.68)
England : Pickford; Kyle Walker, Stones, Marc Guéhi, Shaw; Declan Rice, Mainoo (Palmer, m.70=; Bukayo Saka, Bellingham, Foden (Toney, m.89); and Kane (Watkins, m.61).
Goals : 1-0, m.47: Nico Williams. 1 -1, m.73: Palmer. 2-1, m.86: Oyarzabal.
Referee: François Letexier (France). He showed yellow cards to Kane (25), Stones (53) and Watkins (91) for England; and Dani Olmo (31) for Spain.
Incidents : Euro 2024 final played at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin completely full, with 70,000 spectators, 13,000 followers of Spain. The King of Spain Felipe VI, together with the Infanta Sofia, and the Prince of Wales , Guillermo, presided over the final with the presence of the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, and the chancellor German, Olaf Scholz.
BY: Nadeem Faisal Baiga
