Harry Kane gets 1/10 and his teammates don’t fare much better in player ratings

England endured more major tournament heartbreak after losing 2-1 to Spain in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday.

The Three Lions have now lost in back-to-back European finals following their defeat to Italy three years ago at Wembley.

Gareth Southgate’s men relied on luck and individual moments of brilliance for the majority of the tournament, where they came behind in each of their three knockout ties to make the final.

And the fairytale script looked to be on the cards yet again when substitute Cole Palmer cancelled out Nico Williams’ 47th minute opener.

But it was England this time that were dealt a late sucker punch as Mikel Oyarzabal came off the bench to fire home in the 86th minute.

Declan Rice and Marc Guehi almost got England back on level terms moments later, but their headed efforts were denied by Unai Simon and Dani Olmo off the line respectively – and deny Harry Kane again.

The defeat has seen England’s men continue their 58-year trophy drought, with Southgate’s eight-year spell as manager now in question.

With his contract due to expire at the end of 2024, it could very well be his last match in charge.

And while his team have showed grit and resilience throughout the tournament in Germany, they simply lost to a better team at the Olympiastadion – though in truth a defensive approach and substitutions too late into the game played a huge role.

Here, talkSPORT’s veteran host Adrian Durham gives his marks out of ten for England’s defeated stars from Berlin…

Kane not able

England captain Harry Kane may have shared the Golden Boot award following his three goals at Euro 2024, but the 30-year-old was guilty of another poor display.

Not for the first time in Germany, the Bayern Munich striker struggled to make an impact, where he looked lethargic in attack and was a passenger for the majority of the match.

He was eventually hooked for semi-final hero Ollie Watkins just after the hour mark, with England’s tempo immediately noticeably quicker.

His display resulted in him being awarded a 1/10 rating by Durham, who said: “He wasn’t fit – we basically played with ten men for an hour.

“Somewhere along the line, a big bold question had to be made.

“He wasn’t good at all. He had to go off at half-time. Whether he should have started given the state he was in, was another question as well.”

‘Defensively poor’

Kyle Walker revealed earlier in the week how Southgate had convinced him to continue playing for England.

But the 34-year-old could now call time on his international career, with his positioning questioned for both of Spain’s goals.

He was caught sleeping in the box for the opening goal which saw Williams slide past Pickford.

And he was then pipped to the ball by Marc Cucurella on the edge of the box, with the Chelsea left-back’s cross setting up Oyarzabal’s winner.

Awarded a 2/10, Durham remarked: “Defensively he was poor, he just didn’t get forward to support Bukayo Saka enough.”

Durham agreed with Stuart Pearce’s assessment, who said: “I’ve been saying this throughout the tournament, Kyle should have been surging on.

“When he done it, we were getting good opportunities from it and Saka was going beyond people and we were scoring goals. That only comes because the full-back is prepared to do the hard yards and go beyond and help his wide player and Saka didn’t have that help readily over this tournament.”

Here’s a question

Palmer may not have started a single game at Euro 2024, but he can come out of the competition with his head held high.

The Chelsea winger has been a bright spark off the bench in each of his five outings – chipping in with two goal contributions.

He supplied the match-winning assist for Watkins in the dramatic last-four win over the Netherlands, before scoring an expert equaliser against Spain, where he curled home into the bottom left corner from outside the box.

Given an 8 /10, Durham stated: “He ruined Spain. As Stuart Pearce said, how can England have a best player at the tournament who didn’t start a game?”

All gone South

Southgate will go down as one of England’s greatest ever managers for taking England to back-to-back finals.

But his tactics backfired in his biggest game as boss, with his decision to keep Kane on until the 61st minute detrimental to the team.

Awarded a 2/10, Durham stated: “He kept Kane on too long. And then we sat back when Spain were there for the taking after we’d equalised.

“I was really frustrated with how we sat back at 1-1. There are all sorts of questions levelled at Gareth Southgate.

“I thought Spain were wobbling. Cole Palmer had been on the field two-and-a-half minutes and scored a goal. That was when you are saying to the players, keep attacking, you have them on the ropes. Basically we asked them can you score goal, and the answer was yes, and they won it.”