The 2024 European Championship came to a close with Spain defeating England at Olympiastadion Berlin in Germany on Sunday.
Spain's offense was humming during the tournament, and La Roja continued to brim with brilliance. Nico Williams opened the scoring with a nifty slicer into the bottom right corner of the net, but England's Cole Palmer evened the tally just three minutes after he was subbed onto the pitch in the second half.
Mikel Oyazarbal reared himself as the hero of the day, sliding into the box to put away a beautiful deciding goal in the 86th minute. The win for Spain marked its fourth European Championship title, a record for the tournament.
Here are the highlights!
Final: Spain 2, England 1
Spain has done it! For a record fourth time, La roja are your Euro champions! Spain fans and players rejoiced in unison after the record win, perhaps the biggest in country history.
'90: Spain 2, England 1
Not one, not two. But three chances went awry for England as it got multiple heading opportunities off this late corner. But thanks to Dani Olmo and Spain's defense, the squad was unable to find an equalizer.
'86: Spain 2, England 1
Oh. My. Goodness! Mikel Oyarzabal was gifted this present off the foot of Marc Cucurella. Cucurella's pass was perfect, and Oyarzabal cleaned it up on the sliding attempt to put Spain ahead.
To the naked eye, it looked as if Oyarzabal could have been offside, but the Spanish forward was ruled in legal position for the biggest goal of his life.
'82: Spain 1, England 1
Jordan Pickford's composure looked effortless on what looked to be a clear goal for Spain. Lamine Yamal had an opportune chance to double his team's tally, but stretched out to make a full-length dive
'73: Spain 1, England 1
"The boy who can't stop scoring delivers for England!" Well England fans, if you didn't believe before, do you believe now?
Cole Palmer found his second goal of Euro 2024 after running nearly the full length of the pitch before winding up for a rocket shot on the assist from Jude Bellingham. Palmer had more than enough time to size up the attempt, and hit it perfectly into the bottom left corner of the net.
'66: Spain 1, England 0
Lamine Yamal has so many tricks in his bag, and he showed off a couple after getting the pass from Nico Williams, and firing off a nifty shot on goal. But Jordan Pickford's outstretched dive thwarted the attempt away.
'64: Spain 1, England 0
Harry Kane's day came to end after just over an hour on the pitch when Ollie Watkins was subbed in. Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham was able to fire off a brisk shot thanks to Phil Foden's hustle, but it was hit wide left.
'56: Spain 1, England 0
Still on the prowl for its second goal, Spain pushed forward with a pacey fervor. Williams' first goal injected a newfound confidence into the 22-year-old, and though it missed its mark, this shot was nearly perfect as it just missed the bottom left corner of the goal.
'49: Spain 1, England 0
Williams & Co. nearly found their second goal, as Williams fired a pretty pass to Dani Olmo, who was just inches away from sealing his Golden Boot with a fourth goal.
'47: Spain 1, England 0
No Rodri, no problem. After the star midfielder was subbed out to open the second half, Spain kicked things into gear at a blistering pace.
Dani Carvajal got the attacking ploy going with a beautiful chip pass to Lamine Yamal, who blazed into England's defensive third, before pinpointing Nico Williams on the run for the clever ground shot to put Spain up 1-0.
Williams threw up a heart to the Spanish faithful in attendance, who were heavily outnumbered (80-20) by English fans.
'45+1: Spain 0, England 0
Phil Foden nearly had a goal on this falling strike after England's free kick try was parried away by a Spanish defender, but he hit it right at Spain's Unai Simón.
'39 Spain 0, England 0
It didn't result in a tiebreaker, but this stellar dribble move from Jude Bellingham is worth your attention nonetheless. Bellingham stopped Rodri right in his tracks by playing the ball through his wickets, and sped right past him as he made his move towards goal.
'31: Spain 0, England 0
A pair of premier names in the game – Harry Kane and Dani Olmo – both received yellow cards in the first half for these infractions.
'24: Spain 0, England 0
Although both sides don't speak the same language, some gestures are universal. And it's very plausible that England knew exactly what Dani Carvajal was signaling with this move.
'14: Spain 0, England 0
Moxie and Lamine Yamal's name go together in the dictionary. Yamal showed he ws built for the moment early during this chasedown of England superstar Jude Bellingham to force the ball out of the pitch.
'15: Spain 0, England 0
Kyle Walker seemed fine after the scary sliding tackle, running the length of the field before setting up an unsuccessful cross attempt in what was England's best chance of the affair thus far.
'12: Spain 0, England 0
Talk about dicey. Aggressiveness was the name of the game in its opening minutes, and English defender Kyle Walker got up gimpy after a hard tackle attempt.
'12: Spain 0, England 0
Nico Williams was the focal point of Spain's offense early, and he kept The Three Lions defense on their toes with several promising runs into the box.
A trio of Spanish royalty – Xavi, David Villa, and Andrés Iniesta – made a special appearance at Olympiastadion Berlin for the match.
Is it finally coming home? England fans sure hope so, and they turned out in droves to support their home squad ahead of kickoff.
Meanwhile, King Charles III had some special instructions for The Three Lions.
Lamine Yamal was locked in as he entered the pitch.
And "FOX Soccer NOW" got us ready for what's sure to be an enthralling match.
