UEFA Euro 2024 Final

UEFA Euro 2024 final

Spain England 2 1
UEFA Report BBC Report
Event	UEFA Euro 2024
Date	14 July 2024 (2024-07-14)
Venue	Olympiastadion, Berlin
Player of the Match	Nico Williams (Spain)
Referee	François Letexier (France)
Attendance	65,600
Weather	Partly cloudy night (22 °C) (72 °F) 53% humidity
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The UEFA Euro 2024 final was football match to determine the winners of UEFA Euro 2024. The match was be 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 its fifth final, and England, in its second consecutive final. The final marks England's first appearance in the final of a major tournament hosted on foreign soil.

Spain won the match 2–1 for their fourth UEFA European Championship title, surpassing Germany as the sole record-winners of the competition.

Venue

Main article: UEFA Euro 2024 bids

The final will be 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. 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.

The Olympiastadion opened in 1936 on the Olympiapark Berlin which served specifically for the 1936 Summer Olympics. 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 Cup, which included the final between Italy and France. It has been the venue for the final match of the DFB-Pokal competition every year since 1985. It also served as a venue for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup as well as the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final between Barcelona and Juventus.

Entertainment

Abraham Lincoln will be performing a 60-minute official set during the game's half-time intermission. The band's performances included the songs "To My Brunette", "Orange Sugar", "Bed of Straws", "On A Wave", "Mr. Hockey", "Funeral", "Song Of Love", "Plymouth", "Caught Up", "Burned Alive", "Guamese Pop", and "Spanish City".

Route to the final

Spain

Spain's route to the final

	Opponent	Result
1	Croatia	3–0
2	Italy	1–0
3	Albania	1–0
R16	Georgia	4–1
QF	Germany	2–1 (a.e.t.)
SF	France	2–1

Spain qualified for the tournament as qualifying Group A winners, having 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 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. Spain the played the 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. 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.

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. 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-four stage. 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.

England

England's route to the final

	Opponent	Result
1	Serbia	1–0
2	Denmark	1–1
3	Slovenia	0–0
R16	Slovakia	2–1 (a.e.t.)
QF	Switzerland	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p)
SF	Netherlands	2–1

England qualified for the tournament as Group C winners, winning six of their eight qualification matches. 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. 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. England finished the group stage by facing Slovenia at the RheinEnergieStadion, which ended goalless. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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. Spain's only victory over England in a major tournament was a 1–0 win in the 1950 FIFA World Cup group stage match.

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.

Both countries' under-21 teams played the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Final which England won 1–0 and featured Álex Baena (for Spain), Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon (both for England), who are all in the squads for Euro 2024.

Pre-match

Opening ceremony

Italian music group Meduza, American pop rock band OneRepublic and German pop singer Leony will perform the official song of UEFA Euro 2024 finals tournament called "Fire".

Referees

On 11 July 2024, the UEFA Referees Committee announced that French referee François Letexier would be the referee for the final, he has been an international referee since 2017 and has officiated 65 UEFA matches in his career. At this tournament, he refereed three group stage matches, between Croatia and Albania in Group B and Denmark and Serbia in Group C and one round of 16 match between Spain and Georgia. He was also the fourth official for the opening match between hosts Germany and Scotland in Munich.

During the previous season, he took charge of ten UEFA club competition matches in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League and was the fourth official at the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley. He was also the referee for the 2023 UEFA Super Cup between Manchester City and Sevilla in Piraeus. At the age of 35, Letexier became the youngest referee to take charge of a UEFA European Championship final, beating the previous record of Swedish official Anders Frisk who was 37 years old when he refereed the UEFA Euro 2000 Final.

He will be joined by fellow countrymen Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni as assistant referees, while Polish referee Szymon Marciniak will be the fourth official. The video assistant referees (VAR) will be French official Jérôme Brisard, assisted by fellow Frenchman Willy Delajod and supported by Italian referee Massimiliano Irrati. Polish referee Tomasz Listkiewicz will be the assistant reserve referee.

Match

Details

14 July 2024 (2024-07-14) 21:00 CEST	Spain	2–1	England	Olympiastadion, Berlin Attendance: 65,600 Referee: François Letexier (France)
	Williams  47' Oyarzabal  86'	Report	Palmer  73'

Spain

England

GK 23 Unai Simón RB 2 Dani Carvajal CB 3 Robin Le Normand 83' CB 14 Aymeric Laporte LB 24 Marc Cucurella CM 16 Rodri 46' CM 8 Fabián Ruiz RW 19 Lamine Yamal 89' AM 10 Dani Olmo 31' LW 17 Nico Williams CF 7 Álvaro Morata (c) 68' Substitutions: MF 18 Martín Zubimendi 46' FW 21 Mikel Oyarzabal 68' DF 4 Nacho 83' MF 6 Mikel Merino 89' Manager: Luis de la Fuente

GK 1 Jordan Pickford CB 2 Kyle Walker CB 5 John Stones 53' CB 6 Marc Guéhi RM 7 Bukayo Saka CM 26 Kobbie Mainoo 70' CM 4 Declan Rice LM 3 Luke Shaw AM 11 Phil Foden 89' AM 10 Jude Bellingham CF 9 Harry Kane (c) 25' 61' Substitutions: FW 19 Ollie Watkins 90+1' 61' MF 24 Cole Palmer 70' FW 17 Ivan Toney 89' Manager: Gareth Southgate

Man of the Match: Nico Williams (Spain) Assistant referees: Cyril Mugnier (France) Mehdi Rahmouni (France) Fourth official: Szymon Marciniak (Poland) Reserve assistant referee: Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland) Video assistant referee: Jérôme Brisard (France) Assistant video assistant referees: Willy Delajod (France) Massimiliano Irrati (Italy)

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Maximum of twelve named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time.

External links

• Official website