The BBC have announced their punditry line up for Sunday’s Euro 2024 final between England and Spain, with the corporation bringing in a special guest for their coverage
The BBC have brought in Juan Mata as a special guest for their coverage of Sunday’s Euro 2024 final.
England face Spain at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Sunday night, with the Three Lions hoping to end 58 years of hurt. Both the BBC and ITV will be screening the game live, having shared out the coverage of the tournament so far.
There will be a huge battle for eyeballs during Sunday evening, with the game expected to be the most-watched event of the year on British television. More than 20 million people watched the semi-final win over the Netherlands on ITV on Wednesday.
That number is expected to be much higher when the BBC and ITV’s viewing figures are combined. The BBC have now confirmed their punditry line-up as they look to win the battle for viewers.
To do so, they have brought in Mata as a special guest to provide expert analysis on England’s opponents Spain. Gary Lineker will anchor the BBC’s coverage on BBC One and iPlayer from the Olympiastadion.
Mata, Rio Ferdinand and Micah Richards will join Lineker in the stadium’s studio, with the latter duo focusing on England. Former England captain Alan Shearer will be on co-commentary duty, with Guy Mowbray leading that side of the coverage.
England Women’s legend Alex Scott will be joined on pitchside by Kelly Somers to bring the build-up from ground level. Mata meanwhile will be a busy man, as he is also scheduled to feature on BBC Radio 5 Live’s coverage.
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Mark Chapman will lead the broadcast and will be live from 6pm at the stadium. Chris Sutton, Matthew Upson will provide expert analysis, with commentary from John Murray and Ian Dennis.
Mata has a wealth of experience at international level, having earned 41 caps for Spain. He scored in the final of Euro 2012, helping La Roja to their last major trophy win, and was also part of the squad that won the 2010 World Cup.
Meanwhile Shearer has admitted it has been a tournament of up and downs for England. But he is backing the Three Lions to finally end their 58-year wait for an international trophy.
“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride to get to this point,” Shearer said. “We’ve seen some great football in the first half of the semi-final but it’s been hard work in some other games as well but that’s fine. We’ve had a bit of luck, some brilliance, some resilience.
“We’ve had to defend really well, we’ve had some dramatic moments when you need big players. We’ve had it all and it’s been amazing. England are where they want to be, it’s where they set out to be before the tournament started and hopefully it’ll be a great Sunday.”
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