- Author, Emlyn Begley
- Role, BBC Sport journalist
For the fourth game in a row England came from behind, but this time they fell short with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring a late winner to snatch a 2-1 victory.
Nico Williams’ strike early in the second half put Spain ahead but Cole Palmer’s brilliant leveller looked set to send the game into extra time before Oyarzabal pounced four minutes from time.
This was the second European Championship final in a row that Gareth Southgate’s side have lost, after falling to Italy on penalties in 2021, with 1966 their only major tournament final before that.
The country has yet to win senior football tournament abroad, with the 1966 success and Women’s Euro 2022 final – which England won – both at Wembley.
Southgate’s contract runs until the end of the year so this could prove to be his final major tournament after eight years in charge.
England started slowly in Germany, with performances criticised and the Three Lions close to elimination twice, but the past two rounds gave England fans cause to dream – until losing to Spain, the outstanding team throughout this Euros.
The pain goes on
When England won their home World Cup in 1966, beating West Germany 4-2 in the final with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick, many fans may not have imagined that would remain their only success for at least 60 years.
Since then a combined 29 men’s World Cups and European Championships have passed and, until 2021, they had never been back to a final.
England fans dwelled on the agonising near misses in the knockout stages of major tournaments – Diego Maradona’s handball in 1986, losses on penalties to Germany in 1990 and 1996. Current boss Southgate missed a penalty in the latter too.
And there were all the years they did not even get close, failing to qualify for the 1994 World Cup and 2008 Euros – and a few group-stage exits – too.
It felt as if all that may change in 2021 when England reached the final in the continent-wide Euro 2020, although most of their games were at Wembley, including the showpiece against Italy.
They took an early lead but ended up losing on penalties after extra time. Having waited 55 years for that final, it is a fine achievement by Southgate and his team that the next one followed just three years later.
But this one too ended in tears.
The Lionesses won the 2022 European Championship, beating Germany 2-1, also at Wembley.
England grow into the tournament – but fall short
It is fair to describe England’s Euro 2024 campaign as a slow burner.
A win over Serbia was followed by drab draws against Denmark and Slovenia in the group stage.
Had the Danes netted a late winner in their final group game against Serbia, England would have finished second – and arguably had a tougher route to the final.
Some England fans threw cups at Southgate after that disappointing Slovenia result and memes flooded social media showing the manager in various overly cautious scenarios.
The Slovakia game in the last 16 was not much better in terms of performance and they were set to be eliminated until Jude Bellingham’s injury-time overhead kick sent it to extra time – with Harry Kane then netting the winner.
Some supporters still called for Southgate to be sacked after that game – something Ivory Coast did with their coach during this year’s Africa Cup of Nations on their way to winning the tournament.
But the mood seemed to lift when he changed from a back four to a wing-back system against Switzerland in the quarter-finals. They were 10 minutes from elimination before Bukayo Saka struck and his side went on to win on penalties.
They trailed yet again in the semi-final against the Netherlands but Ollie Watkins netted in the 90th minute to send the Three Lions to another final.
The latter two displays were not amazing, and did involve spells where they went into their shells, but it was still a far cry from those early matches.
Euros fever grew across England – and Germany – as thousands of fans travelled just to be near to the action, but they are coming home without the trophy.
Who shone as they came so close?
There were no Hurst-style hat-trick heroics – but there are still plenty of names who will go down in English footballing folklore.
Chelsea’s Palmer became just the fourth player to score in a men’s final for England after Hurst, Martin Peters and Luke Shaw.
Bayern Munich striker Kane, still without a first trophy of a goal-laden career, netted three goals, extending his record as England’s all-time top scorer, to secure a share of the Golden Boot. Real Madrid’s Bellingham scored twice – including his amazing last-gasp equaliser against Slovakia.
That boosted Bellingham’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or, having won the Champions League and La Liga in his first season with Real too.
All five goals were crucial with England never winning a game by more than one goal.
Aston Villa striker Watkins did not have a lot of game time – but he had one of their greatest moments with a neat turn and finish in the final minute of the Dutch semi-final.
Arsenal winger Saka netted a late equaliser against Switzerland in the quarters, and in the resulting shootout – a cathartic moment for a player who missed a penalty in the 2021 final.
Everton keeper Jordan Pickford’s save from Swiss defender Manuel Akanji’s spot-kick also set them up for that shootout success as it was the only one missed of nine taken.
What now for Southgate and England?
Southgate’s contract runs out at the end of this year – and it is not certain if he will stay on.
“I don’t think now is a good time to make a decision like that,” he said afterwards.
“I need to talk to the right people. It’s not for now.”
England are next in action on 7 September when they go to Dublin to take on the Republic of Ireland in their first 2024-25 Nations League game.
Their homecoming will be three days later against Finland. Those games are in the second division of the Nations League after England were relegated last time.
If Southgate was to leave at the end of his deal, he would see out the six Nations League games but be gone before qualifying started for the 2026 World Cup next year.