Anthony Lopopolo

Welcome to theScore's live coverage of the Euro 2024 final. Follow along for the latest updates and get instant analysis of the biggest plays and moments as they happen.

Welcome to theScore's live coverage of the Euro 2024 final. Follow along for the latest updates and get instant analysis of the biggest plays and moments as they happen. Pull page down to refresh.🇪🇸 Spain 2-1 England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿What you need to know 📌 Mikel Oyarzabal won it for Spain in the 86th minute. VAR ruled that John Stones kept Oyarzabal just onside in the buildup to the goal. Cole Palmer canceled out Nico Williams' opening goal three minutes after coming on for Kobbie Mainoo. Rodri was substituted at halftime after suffering an apparent injury. Spain's most influential midfielder started in six of Spain's seven Euro matches. Martin Zubimendi, who's logged just 94 minutes in Germany, replaced Rodri. Kane: 'Opportunity missed' 🗣️FT: Spain 2-1 EnglandHarry Kane gives ITV his thoughts after the final:"It's an opportunity missed. These finals aren't easy to get to. You have to take it when it comes and we haven't done it again. It's extremely painful and it'll hurt for a long time."Rodri named Player of the Tournament 🏅FT: Spain 2-1 EnglandRodri may have come off at halftime, but he had already established a significant impact at Euro 2024. The 28-year-old kept Spain's operation ticking along with exceptional passing and inch-perfect tackling.Spain crowns perfect run 👑FT: Spain 2-1 EnglandSpain is the first men's team to win every game at a European Championship, beating Croatia, Italy, Albania, Georgia, Germany, France, and England to go a perfect 7-0-0. Spain's 15 goals are also the most scored by a team in a single Euro.Deserved win for Spain ✅FT: Spain 2-1 EnglandSpain generated nearly four times the chances as England and controlled the lion's share of a possession in a final it deserved to win.SpainEngland63% Possession 37%14 Shots 95 On Target 32.31 xG 0.6315 Clearances 278 Blocks 21SPAIN WINS EURO 2024! 🏆FT: Spain 2-1 EnglandAnd the final whistle goes! Mikel Oyarzabal's goal in the 86th minute wins a record fourth European Championship for Spain and condemns England to a second consecutive defeat in the final.GOAL-LINE CLEARANCE 😱90' Spain 2-1 EnglandDani Olmo keeps the game from going to extra time with an incredible header off the goaline. OLMO SAVES IT OFF THE LINE FOR SPAIN 😱 pic.twitter/KljClWBfaO— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 14, 2024 GOAL SPAIN! 🚨86' Spain 2-1 EnglandIs that the winner? Mikel Oyarzabal pokes it past Jordan Pickford, who's been excellent all evening, after receiving a perfectly weighted pass from Marc Cucurella in the penalty area. Oyarzabal narrowly beats the offside line to score. These are the margins between national joy and despair. pic.twitter/IgvBBY5CX4— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) July 14, 2024 Pickford saves again 😲82' Spain 1-1 EnglandAnother exceptional save by Jordan Pickford denies Lamine Yamal after a slick move by Spain's attackers. Nico Williams drives forward and links up with Dani Olmo on the edge of the area, and Yamal ends up running into space before forcing Pickford into a theatrical stop.GOAL ENGLAND! 🚨73' Spain 1-1 EnglandIt's not an England match without a comeback. Bukayo Saka goes on a great run down the right before finding Jude Bellingham in the box, and Bellingham plays it back for substitute Cole Palmer to drive it into the bottom left corner. Just like that - and like most of England's goals - the Three Lions have life. And it's another one of Gareth Southgate's substitutes that keeps England alive.Big stop by Pickford 🧤66' Spain 1-0 EnglandEngland 'keeper Jordan Pickford stretches wide to deny Lamine Yamal's attempt on the run. It's a great save and his 16th of the tournament.Close call for Bellingham 😯64' Spain 1-0 EnglandJude Bellingham is trying to drag England back into the match. Receiving the ball around 20 yards from goal, the Real Madrid midfielder turns three defenders with a sterling touch but narrowly misses the net.No letup from Spain 🥵59' Spain 1-0 EnglandIt's one-way traffic in Berlin, where La Roja are pushing for a second goal. England is struggling to stick with Spain's gifted runners, and it has cost Kane any further participation at Euro 2024, with coach Gareth Southgate taking off England's ineffective striker for Ollie Watkins.GOAL SPAIN! 🚨 INA FASSBENDER / AFP / Getty47' Spain 1-0 England Moments after Rodri came off in a potential game-changing substitution, Nico Williams combines with Lamine Yamal to put Spain in the lead. Under pressure from three defenders, Yamal slips a pass out wide to Williams, who's unmarked on the edge of the area. Williams finds the bottom corner with ease.Edgy half comes to an end ⏰HT: Spain 0-0 EnglandA half that started in England's ended in Spain's as the Three Lions slowly worked their way back into the game and generated the game's first shot on target in the 45th minute. Both sides produced desperate blocks to keep the game goalless.SpainEngland66% Possession 34%4 Shots 30 On Target 10.25 xG 0.226 Clearances 145 Blocks 13Atmosphere getting tense 😬31' Spain 0-0 EnglandTackles are flying and Dani Olmo is the next player in referee Francois Letexier's book after catching Declan Rice in the leg. The play is a little bit jittery and the players are mistiming their challenges.Tough start for Kane 😓25' Spain 0-0 EnglandHarry Kane had just two touches in the first 25 minutes, and his frustration seemed to boil over when he went in late on Fabian Ruiz for the first yellow card of the match.Fans celebrate Stones' tackle 👏 ODD ANDERSEN / AFP / Getty11' Spain 0-0 EnglandJohn Stones has already had to deal with Nico Williams' pace and trickery, but is wise to it with a perfectly timed tackle that the English fans in Berlin celebrated like a goal.All ball for Spain ⚽️10' Spain 0-0 EnglandSpain has absolutely owned the opening 10 minutes of Sunday's final with a whopping 82% possession of the ball. England has tried to play out of its half but without much success. How long can it stay like this?We're off! ⏰And the Euro 2024 final is live in Berlin. Kobbie Mainoo kicks off with a backpass to Jordan Pickford, and the goalkeeper kicks it long for a Spanish goal kick. It's an incredible atmosphere inside the Olympiastadion.Predictions are in! 🔮It's nearly unanimous save for one ambitious England fan. alrady: Spain 2-1 OGMJ: Spain 2-0 AlbertCoholic: England 4-0 By the numbers 🔢Stats aren't everything, but these numbers are pretty telling.3: England's three consecutive comeback wins in the knockout stage are the joint-most all time at the Euros.13: Entering the final, Spain has 13 goals at Euro 2024, one shy of the single-tournament record set by France in 1984.58.8%: Surprisingly, England has averaged a higher rate of possession than Spain at Euro 2024. Spain isn't as obsessed with this number anyway. It's playing a much more vertical game than its predecessors and taking more risks in the final third.21,169: How many days have passed since England's men's team last won a major tournament. The Three Lions' one and only triumph came in the 1966 World Cup final, which they hosted at Wembley Stadium. Sunday's final is the first England has ever played on foreign soil.A win for youth development 👶No matter the winner of Sunday's final, the presence of these two teams confirms the importance of youth development. Both Spain and England have had success in the youth circuit in recent years, with England winning the U21 Euros in 2023 and the U19 Euros in 2022, and beating Spain 5-2 in the U17 World Cup final in 2017. Current English internationals Marc Guehi, Conor Gallagher, and Phil Foden all played for that U17 side. Phil Foden & Marc Guehi scored—Foden twice—when they last played Spain in a final, at the 2017 U17 World Cup. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 An England team also containing Conor Gallagher beat Spain 5-2. Same again Sunday? 🏆 pic.twitter/0K3DdqSNhY— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) July 13, 2024 Both coaches have also had a hand in their countries' development. Gareth Southgate coached England's U21s for three years before taking charge of the senior team in 2016. Luis de la Fuente, meanwhile, oversaw Spain's U19, U21, and U23 sides before taking the men's gig in 2022 as Luis Enrique's successor.Get involved 📥Have your say! We want to hear from you. Post any questions and insights you may have in the comments below, and we'll repost the very best ones throughout the day.Does Southgate get too much hate? 🤔Gareth Southgate has had beers thrown at him, questions asked of him, and the weight of a nation placed upon him. People made jokes about Southgate wearing a life jacket to a bath and memes of him scribbling nonsense in the middle of matches. Critics thought his football was too safe to win anything at Euro 2024. And yet here he is, one match away from leading England to its first-ever European Championship.But how much credit can he take for England's run to the final? Objectively speaking, his team hasn't played well. It has won three of its six matches in Germany with an expected non-penalty goal difference of -0.7, meaning it has conceded more genuine scoring chances than it has generated. Those wins also owe a lot to the individual brilliance of Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, and Ollie Watkins, scorer of England's 90th-minute semifinal winner. ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP / GettyBut it was Southgate's decision to keep Bellingham and Kane on the pitch in the round of 16 against Slovakia. Their goals eventually secured England's passage to the quarterfinals. It was Southgate's decision to throw on Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the quarterfinals against Switzerland. Their penalties helped England win the shootout. And it was Southgate's decision to throw on Watkins with less than nine minutes to go against the Dutch. His goal got them to Berlin.Shaw returns to England XI 📋Gareth Southgate makes just one change to the team that beat the Netherlands in the semifinals, and it's a big one: Luke Shaw will start for England for the first time in over a year. Shaw missed the last three months of Manchester United's season due to injury but retained his place in Southgate's squad and made appearances off the bench in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Kieran Trippier drops to the bench, but Kobbie Mainoo keeps his place in midfield after starting in England's previous three knockout matches.Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Marc Guehi; Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw; Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden; Harry Kane 🚨🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England starting XI. #Euro2024 pic.twitter/3zvNZh2pk1— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 14, 2024 A glance at each finalist 🔎Sunday's final is a game between ideas and cold-blooded assassins. The Spanish have turned tiki-taka into a more progressive form of football that grants freedom to its most creative players. The English, meanwhile, have relied on individual talent to produce game-changing moments.They took much different paths to Berlin. Spain fought off Georgia, Germany, and France to reach the final and played some seriously aggressive football to beat all three. England benefited from a kinder draw against Slovakia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, and required extra time and a shootout to beat the first two. picture alliance / picture alliance / GettyRelated: Everything you need to know about Euro 2024 finalSpain coach Luis de la Fuente has praised his players for the collective effort they've shown over the last month. While Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, and Nico Williams have each inspired Spain to victory, they're not the only reasons La Roja have made it this far. Fabian Ruiz's runs into the box have heaped pressure on opponents, and Rodri has done an excellent job keeping things clean in midfield. Spain's defense has only allowed three goals all tournament, and one of them was an own goal.Even if England has had an easier route, it hasn't necessarily had an easier time. If not for Jude Bellingham's 95th-minute overhead kick against Slovakia, he and his teammates would've been watching the final from home. Whether by design or not, England has played largely safe football in Germany, and although it finally sprang to life in the first half of its semifinal against the Dutch, that spell only lasted 45 minutes. Ollie Watkins scored off the bench in the 90th to snatch another victory for the English.Spain XI released early 📋The lineups usually come out an hour before kickoff, but Spain has avoided any potential leaks by releasing its starting 11 nearly two hours early. Not that there are any surprises anyway. Robin Le Normand replaces Nacho Fernandez at center-back after serving a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation, Dani Olmo retains his place in the lineup after relieving the injured Pedri in Spain's quarterfinal win over Germany, and Lamine Yamal, now 17, earns his sixth start of the tournament. Yamal is the youngest player to feature in a Euro final.Unai Simon; Dani Carvajal, Robin Le Normand, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Cucurella; Rodri, Fabian Ruiz; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams; Alvaro Morata 🚨🇪🇸 Spain XI to face England. #Euro2024 pic.twitter/Lk82CywDUD— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 14, 2024 Welcome! 👋Good afternoon! Welcome to theScore's live coverage of the Euro 2024 final between Spain and England.Before we get into it, let's do a little housekeeping. You'll find everything you need to know about Sunday's title match right here, including all the pre-match hype, play-by-play of key moments, and our thoughts and analysis before and after the trophy is lifted. Swipe down to refresh the page and follow along as the big game progresses.Now, the fun part begins. Spain is looking to win a record fourth European Championship, while England bids for its first major men's title in 58 long years. The oddsmakers see Spain as the favorite, and it's understandable: Spain has won all six matches at Euro 2024, while England has a split 3-3-0 record. But it's one match, and the Three Lions have demonstrated an uncanny ability to turn matches on their head in the most critical moments. Keep theScore on hand as we navigate the ups and downs of what should be a thrilling final.

Spain beat England at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Sunday to win the European Championship for a record fourth time. theScore covered the biggest moments and plays in real time below.

One of the greatest things a coach can do is leave their team in a better place than they found it. Gareth Southgate did that. Even in the aftermath of yet another final lost, there's a lot of gratitude. The English thank Southgate as he walks away from the job he held for eight years because the journey was worthwhile. He leaves after a job well done and departs - most improbably - with his reputation enhanced.Rewind to September 2016 when Southgate fell backwards into a role he'd only weeks prior declared himself too inexperienced to fill. Southgate took the gig on an interim basis after a newspaper sting forced Sam Allardyce to resign. Southgate landed a four-year contract four games later.Back then, his mandate wasn't so much about winning as it was about rehabilitating the image of a team that lost to Iceland in the round of 16 of Euro 2016, finished last in its group at the 2014 World Cup, and failed to qualify for Euro 2008.Southgate knew better than most what England had, coaching Jordan Pickford, John Stones, Harry Kane, and other future internationals during his time with the U21s. He knew he had to create a foundation for England to succeed. Though he remained fiercely loyal - almost to a fault - to many of the players who helped him lay it all down, Southgate was clearly more interested in creating a solid enough base to withstand the weight of pressure and establishing a strong enough bond to drive away the stench of petty club rivalries. Eddie Keogh - The FA / The FA Collection / GettyIt worked. England reached the 2018 World Cup semis, the Euro 2020 and 2024 finals, and the 2022 World Cup quarters. Following - and more importantly, playing for - the Three Lions was no longer some joyless pursuit. People celebrated in beer gardens and turned "It's Coming Home," a self-deprecating anthem born of all their failures, into a rallying cry. England lost six of seven shootouts before Southgate arrived. It's won three of its last four.Southgate also made history: He's the only coach to lead England's men's team to consecutive tournament finals. He's the only coach to go 13 matches unbeaten at the Euros. He won nine knockout fixtures - as many as all of England's previous managers combined.But something changed over the last month. Southgate spoke of the "unusual environment" fans created in Germany. For the first time in his tenure, beer and boos rained down on him."We've made England fun again and it's been very, very enjoyable for the players," Southgate said after the goalless draw against Slovenia confirmed top spot in Group C. "We've got to be careful it stays that way."The fans weren't the only ones who changed. The team began to play with the handbrake on. The fear of defeat set in. All the things Southgate kept at bay during his eight years in charge were beginning to creep back in. He had to be more than a spokesperson now. He had to play politics. The fundamental objective went from inspiring to simply getting the job done. He complained of English "entitlement" and snarled at those who dismissed England's run to the final as nothing more than a case of easy pickings. Stu Forster / Getty Images Sport / GettyThat he decided enough was enough only two days after losing to Spain in the final is telling. And it was his decision to take. Southgate wasn't sacked. By all accounts, the English FA wanted him to stay on, but he decided it was the right time to go.England didn't seem to enjoy Euro 2024 as much as it savored previous tournaments. It felt like a long, dreary slog to the very end of a tournament, and Southgate's players wanted to get it over with. If not for the individual brilliance of a few players - recall Jude Bellingham's overhead kick in the 95th minute, Ollie Watkins' 90th-minute winner, and Cole Palmer's tying goal against Spain - the whole thing would've been one miserable tour of Germany with unspectacular snapshots of industrial Gelsenkirchen tucked away in camera rolls.The development phase is over. England's ready to win now. And that's not the role Southgate signed up for. He's always been more of a nurturer than a cold-blooded winner, and it's for that reason England outgrew him. That's as much of a credit to Southgate as it is a criticism.

Jurgen Klopp has no intention of breaking away from his yearlong sabbatical to replace Gareth Southgate as England coach, The Telegraph's Chris Bascombe reports.

Manchester United completed the signing of 18-year-old center-back Leny Yoro on Thursday after agreeing to pay Lille a reported €62 million.

Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are out of Wednesday's MLS All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio. Messi rolled his ankle during the Copa America final on July 14.

Canadian coach Bev Priestman voluntarily withdrew from Thursday's Olympics women's soccer opener against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne, France, after two members of her team were caught flying drones over their opponent's practice session.The incidents occurred Monday and last Friday. The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) said the members responsible for the drone have been sent home and that all Canada Soccer staff will undergo mandatory ethics training."On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada. This does not represent the values that our team stands for," Priestman said."I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday. In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld."Priestman didn't say whether she was aware members were using to drones to spy on New Zealand.The New Zealand Olympic Committee initially reported the incident to police and lodged a complaint with the International Olympic Committee's integrity unit.The COC said Canada Soccer has been "transparent and cooperative" during the investigation. The committee added it may take further action.Canada's women's team won the gold medal at Tokyo 2020 after beating Sweden in a shootout.The team faces New Zealand, host nation France, and Colombia in Group A.

Canadian coach Bev Priestman voluntarily withdrew from Thursday's Olympics women's soccer opener against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne, France, after

Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue urged FIFA and the International Olympic Committee not to deduct points from Canada's women's soccer team over the spying scandal that forced the program to suspend head coach Bev Priestman.Blue told reporters on a web conference Friday that he hasn't considered withdrawing the team from the Olympics in Paris "because we feel we have handled the situation swiftly and thoroughly."While the former Golf Canada executive, who took the job in March, admitted to "unacceptable shortcomings of ethics" that have thrown the program into disarray, he emphasized the players on Canada's current roster haven't done anything wrong."The players themselves have not been involved in any unethical behavior, and frankly we ask FIFA to take that into consideration if contemplating any further sanctions," Blue said. "Specifically, we do not feel that a deduction of points in this tournament would be fair to our players, particularly in light of the significant and immediate steps we've taken to address this situation."The issue of spying - which emerged after a staff member was caught using a drone to capture footage of New Zealand's training sessions before Canada's opening win over the Kiwis on Thursday - also spread to the men's team. Blue said there was "attempted drone usage" during the men's run to the Copa America semifinals earlier this month, according to The Athletic's Josh Kloke, but stressed it was a "significantly different" case and didn't impact any result.Blue clarified men's head coach Jesse Marsch only learned about the drone after it happened and "forcefully" denounced its use to staff.Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker conceded that the latest information - including a report from TSN's Rick Westhead that Canada had used drones to spy on opponents at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics - could tarnish the women's gold medal-winning performance there."It makes me ill," Shoemaker told reporters in France. "It makes me sick to my stomach to think there could be something that calls into question what I'm sure so many of you have heard me say over the course of the last three years, one of my favorite Olympic moments in history, that women's team winning that gold medal against all odds and those COVID restrictions."Stephanie Labbe, who saved two penalty kicks in the shootout win over Sweden in the final in Tokyo, denied using drone footage to determine which way her opponents shot. Labbe also saved two spot-kicks in the quarterfinal shootout win over Brazil."I studied HARD the night before every match," she wrote on X. "Watched videos of players taking PKs in national team and club games. Made my own educated guesses based on that info. NO DRONE FOOTAGE was watched. Do not confuse great goalkeeping with cheating."