Spain – England

Spain and England could produce an entertaining Euro 2024 final

On Sunday, 14 July, the long-awaited final of the European Championship will take place. The Spanish national team will play against England in the status of favourites. Before the European Championship, it was England who went in at number one, but the Red Fury surprised the public with very high quality football. Luis de la Fuente's wards made it to the final from a difficult part of the grid. Spain defeated Croatia and Italy in the group. The team finished the group stage with a 5-0 goal difference. In the playoffs, a warm-up game against Georgia was followed by games against Germany and France. Both teams were ranked above Spain before the tournament. The team again showed tactical flexibility and the decisive factor was the outstanding performance of Lamine Yamal. The 16-year-old, who celebrated his birthday before the final, has three assists and a sumptuous long-range goal against France. Spain have almost no weaknesses ahead of the final. Even Pedri's injury didn't affect the attacking links in the national team too much. Dani Olmo and Fabian Ruiz arrived in Germany in top form. So much so that the Leipzig midfielder is in first place in the scorer's race, while Ruiz has four assists. England, on the other hand, literally limped through to the semi-finals, but then produced a very high quality match against the Netherlands. The English faced a lot of criticism in the course of the competition. The team was literally destroyed in the press for defensive football. Especially the team got for the match against Slovakia in the 1/8 finals. The English were separated from defeat by 30 seconds. We can not say that there was qualitative progress in the confrontation with Switzerland. Luck accompanied the top team. A big plus for England is the coach's ability to manage the squad and influence the result at the end of matches. The English picked up three willful victories. In each play-off match, the national team conceded first but went further ahead. For the opponents, the reserves are a total problem. England have Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins as jokers. Two fresh high-level players have already turned the tide of the tournament more than once. Bookmakers expect a very cautious final, although the teams are full of stars. England has just broken the series on the total less at the Euros. Spain in the playoffs in every game scored and conceded. And the lines have the underlying total set at just two goals. It was a similar situation in the run-up to the semi-finals - both top bets went through in the end. England certainly don't look like outsiders. The team is well managed by the coach, and Lamine Yamal may well be held back by Kyle Walker.