Tag: Euro 2024

England fans were so dejected watching Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal score the late winner in Euro 2024 final

The watch party turned sad quickly.

For all of the talent and resources that the England men’s national team has boasted over the years, the Three Lions have not won a major trophy since the 1966 World Cup. It’s been nothing but heartbreak in the decades since, and Sunday’s Euro 2024 final was yet another chapter in England’s astonishing title drought.

As England made its deep run into the Euro 2024 final, fans across London and other major cities packed bars, pubs, event spaces and parks for watch parties. On Sunday, cameras were set up for the reactions from Boxpark Wembley in London. And when Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winner in the 86th minute, the watch party turned from buzzing to silent in an instant.

This was the dejected reaction to the winning Spain goal:

Compare that to the 73rd-minute equalizer from Cole Palmer just 13 minutes earlier, the scene could not have taken a quicker turn.

England lost, 2-1, and the Three Lions will be looking at a 60-year trophy drought when it heads to the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

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VAR showed just how close Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal came to being offside on his Euro 2024-winning goal

A game of inches.

Throughout Euro 2024, Spain had looked like the more dominant side. And on Sunday, Spain finished off the perfect tournament run with a 2-1 win over England. That go-ahead goal, though, will haunt England fans for a long time.

Just 13 minutes after Chelsea star Cole Palmer tied the match with a 73rd-minute goal as a substitute, Spain got its late winner by way of a Mikel Oyarzabal tap-in off a brilliantly timed run. In real time, it looked like Oyarzabal could have been offside at the moment of Marc Cucurella’s pass. But VAR confirmed that the goal was good.

Oyarzabal was on by the narrowest of margins. Take a look:

Upon the review, John Stones’ knee just barely kept Oyarzabal on side. Unlike the Copa America — which has relied on hand-drawn lines and inconsistent officiating — Euro 2024 has utilized digitally mapped fields for VAR views. So, the offside calls were made to the precise moment.

And as we saw there, that small margin made all the difference.

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Spain vs. England: How to watch Euro 2024 final, TV channel, live stream

All eyes are on Berlin as the two European powers meet in the final

Spain and England will meet on Sunday in the Euro 2024 final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

For Spain, the game will be an opportunity to win its fourth European Championship, the most of any men’s team ever.

England, meanwhile, will be looking for its first Euros title, and only its second major title alongside the 1966 World Cup.

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Spain has been the tournament’s best side, winning all six of its games so far including a quarterfinal triumph over host Germany and a semifinal win over France.

Lamine Yamal, who turned 17 on Saturday, has been the story of the Euros. The Barcelona attacker has not only become the tournament’s youngest player ever, but has starred with three assists and a stunning goal against France in the semifinal.

Spain will be favored, but England has shown incredible resilience to reach a second straight Euros final.

The Three Lions failed to impress in the group phase, and needed an incredible last-second bicycle kick from Jude Bellingham to avoid a last-16 exit against Slovakia. Penalties were then required to see off Switzerland in the quarterfinal, while Ollie Watkins scored a last-gasp winner against the Netherlands in the semifinal.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.

Spain vs. England (Euro 2024 final)

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The Killers pause London concert, watch England win, rip into ‘Mr. Brightside’

The band wisely let fans watch the end of the game, then went into overdrive

What do you do if you’re playing a concert in London at the same time England is playing for a place in the Euro 2024 final?

The Killers had the perfect answer to that riddle, pausing their show on Wednesday to watch the final minutes of a dramatic England win before going straight into their iconic single “Mr. Brightside.”

The Las Vegas band was playing the fifth night in a six-date residency at the O2 Arena in London. Meanwhile, about 400 miles to the east, England was taking on the Netherlands in a Euro 2024 semifinal in Dortmund, Germany.

The Dutch took an early lead, but Harry Kane’s penalty equalized and with just minutes left, Ollie Watkins scored a dramatic winner to send England into Sunday’s final against Spain.

Knowing that much of the audience was distracted as the game reached its conclusion, The Killers did the sensible thing and simply paused their show, putting the match on the big screen behind them and turning the commentary on.

As the final whistle blew, fans went wild and a cannon shot out red and white confetti. Luckily, the band hadn’t yet played its hit 2004 single, and the final whistle provided the ideal segue for the opening guitar strains of “Mr. Brightside” to send the crowd into overdrive.

Watch The Killers pause concert for England match

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England fans at The Killers’ O2 show celebrated the team’s Euro 2024 Final berth with Mr. Brightside

This had to be the second-best place to celebrate the England win.

England punched its ticket to Sunday’s Euro 2024 Final with a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Netherlands on Wednesday.

As amazing as the scene on the pitch and in the stadium had to be, The Killers concert at London’s The 02 had to be the second-best place to celebrate the victory.

As the band played in front of a big crowd of England fans, it put the final moments of the game up on the big screen at the show to allow the fans in attendance to celebrate with each other that the team was headed back to the Euro Final.

Right at the crescendo of the joyful exclamations, the band went right into the iconic song “Mr. Brightside,” making this one of the absolute coolest clips you’ll see this month.

Even if you don’t cheer for England, you’ll still get goosebumps from how perfect the transition is. What an incredible moment this turned out to be.

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England hero Ollie Watkins revealed his prediction to Cole Palmer just before scoring the game-winning goal

England’s Ollie Watkins has nerves of steel.

It was dicey for a bit, but England will play in its second consecutive Euro Final this Sunday in Berlin. The English only got there thanks to the terrific heroics of super-sub Ollie Watkins, who, in relief of Harry Kane, scored the game-winning goal over the Netherlands in the 90th minute.

Per Watkins, he apparently saw his glorious moment coming in advance.

In his post-game interview, the forward revealed he had told England teammate Cole Palmer that he was going to set him up with the game-winning goal. That turned out to be exactly what happened.

What a moment of clarity:

England’s men have never won a European championship and they will need to be at their absolute best to beat a Spanish juggernaut team. At the very least, as Watkins shows, they’re not lacking in confidence.

USMNT very conveniently leaked Gregg Berhalter’s firing just as England advanced to the Euro 2024 Final

What a shameless news dump by the USMNT.

On Wednesday, USMNT soccer leaked it had fired disappointing manager Gregg Berhalter, per Fox Soccer reporter Doug McIntyre.

The news is hardly surprising for anyone who followed the United States’ disspiriting era under Berhalter, especially during a flat Copa America loss where he was content not to lose. Once Tim Howard started lobbying for Jürgen Klopp, the writing was on the wall. So, of course the US will ideally be looking for a better manager.

The catch is that Berhalter’s firing leaked at the same time that actual international power England was celebrating a berth in the 2024 Euro Final. Why, it’s almost as if the Americans were hoping the soccer world would focus on England’s joy instead of making fun of them for firing a failed manager.

Hmm, what curious timing for a news dump!

If USMNT leaders were indeed trying to avoid the worst of any international criticism with the timing of Berhalter’s firing, they probably succeeded. For the next day or so, everyone will be talking about England.

However, they will be sorely disappointed if they also hoped to avoid criticism from American soccer pundits and fans. That’s not how it works.

Netherlands vs. England: How to watch Euro 2024, TV channel, live stream

A spot in the final alongside Spain is at stake

The Netherlands and England will meet on Wednesday with a place in the Euro 2024 final at stake.

The two sides will battle at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, with the winner earning a spot in Sunday’s final alongside Spain.

England has been far from convincing at this Euros, but has still reached the semifinal of a major tournament for the third time in four tries.

Jude Bellingham’s incredible last-second bicycle kick saved England from a last-16 exit against Slovakia, and penalties were required to see off Switzerland in the quarterfinal.

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The Netherlands, meanwhile, has overcome a group stage that saw one win, one draw and a loss to secure back-to-back wins over Romania and Turkey in the knockout stage.

Dutch head coach Ronald Koeman is aiming to lead his side to only its second European title, and first since 1988 — a team in which he was one of the key players.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.

Netherlands vs. England lineups

Netherlands XI: Verbruggen, Aké, van Dijk, De Vrij, Simons, Depay, Gakpo, Reijnders, Dumfries, Schouten, Malen.

Subs: Geertruida, De Ligt, Wijnaldum, Weghorst, Frimpong, Bijlow, Van de Ven, Veerman, Blind, Bergwijn, Brobbey, Zirkzee, Flekken, Gravenberch.

England XI: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Guéhi, Trippier, Mainoo, Rice, Saka, Bellingham, Foden, Kane.

Subs: Shaw, Alexander-Arnold, Konsa, Ramsdale, Dunk, Gallagher, Toney, Gordon, Watkins, Bowen, Eze, Gomez, Henderson, Palmer, Wharton.

Netherlands vs. England (Euro 2024 semifinal)

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Morata faces Euro 2024 fitness worry after being taken out by security guard

Morata can’t even celebrate a win without being in physical danger

Spain has moved on to the Euro 2024 final, but a bizarre post-game incident might impact whether Álvaro Morata will be available to play a part.

The striker was hit by a tumbling security guard, who was sprinting in to stop a fan from taking selfies as Spain did a victory lap following its 2-1 victory over France.

Morata had no idea what was coming as the security staffer careened into him while trying to stop and turn. Adding to the strangeness of the situation, stewards at the Allianz Arena had already managed to grab the young selfie-taker.

The Atlético Madrid striker, who has started all but one of Spain’s matches in the tournament, immediately felt for his right knee, wincing and then limping away from the kerfuffle. The security person leaned in to check on the Spain captain, who seemed to simply want to hobble away from the entire situation.

In a post-match press conference, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente told reporters that Morata’s status was at this point unknown.

“We have to wait and see tomorrow,” said De la Fuente. “We believe it’s nothing. It hurts, but we think it’s nothing.”

Should Morata be unavailable, De la Fuente would likely be choosing between Mikel Oyarzabal (who replaced Morata in the 76th minute on Tuesday) or Joselu to lead the line in the final, which is on Sunday against either England or the Netherlands.

This isn’t even the first such incident involving an Iberian forward at this tournament. Portugal striker Gonçalo Ramos ended up having a steward crash into him after a 3-0 win over Turkey on June 22.

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Giorgio Chiellini delivered a heartfelt message to American soccer fans as he set off for the Euro 2024 Final

Everyone should listen to Giorgio Chiellini’s beautiful speech.

As sports fans, we occasionally get lucky with a new TV analyst who brings terrific depth, insight, and color to their work during broadcasts. For Fox’s Euro 2024 coverage, this person is undoubtedly Italian soccer legend Giorgio Chiellini.

He didn’t disappoint with his final thoughts from Fox’s Los Angeles studio after Lamine Yamal’s Spain advanced to the Euro Final this Sunday.

As Chiellini said goodbye to L.A. and the United States — he is heading to Berlin to cover the Euro Final on location and will eventually move back to Italy after living stateside for two years — he delivered a surprising speech about the beauty of soccer. More importantly, he pleaded with American soccer fans to continue investing in the game and helping it grow.

You genuinely almost get tears watching moments like this:

I couldn’t have said it any better myself. Here’s the critical part of Chiellini’s on-air request in full:

“I want to ask you something. Please continue to watch soccer everyday. Please continue to play soccer. Please continue to live soccer everyday … please help us to continue making it better and better.”

Chiellini’s comments put American soccer in a spotlight it soon won’t be able to escape. The 2026 World Cup will be partly hosted by the United States, with the Final being played in the New York Giants and New York Jets’ home stadium. If that tournament really resonates with American fans, the sky will be the limit.

Seeing soccer thrive on this side of the pond in the coming years would be tremendous. Kudos to Chiellini for understanding the stakes.