European Championships 2024 - Therefore, the EM Final is especially exciting
Spain or England – who will be the Football-European Championship winner? The outcome of this final on Sunday evening in Berlin (9:00 PM/ARD and MagentaTV) will decide several exciting duels.
Duel of the Bundesliga Stars
Harry Kane of Bayern Munich and Dani Olmo of RB Leipzig: Both can not only become European champions on Sunday evening but also still top scorers of this EM. With three goals each, they are among the six players who lead the scorers' list of the tournament before the last game.
The balance of their previous encounters in Germany is even: In Kane's first game for Bayern Munich, the German record champion lost the Supercup final against Leipzig with three Olmo goals with a score of 0:3. England's captain avenged this with two goals for a 2:1 win against Leipzig in February of this year. Dani Olmo missed the Bundesliga home game due to injury.
Duel of the Teenagers
Spain's Lamine Yamal is the discovery of this Tournament. The day before the final, he celebrated his 17th birthday. Previously, he had already broken two records as the youngest player (against Croatia) and youngest scorer (against France) in EM history.
But the English also have a teenager with remarkable development leaps. Still in the autumn of 2023, the 19-year-old Kobbie Mainoo played twice in the UEFA Youth League for Manchester United. Then everything went quickly: Premier League regular player since December, national team debut in March, EM regular player since the round of 16 against Switzerland.
Mainoo also holds a record at this tournament: With a completion rate of 96%, he has the best value of all players who have played more than 100 passes at this EM and all other European championships since 1980, according to sports data analyst Opta.
Duel of the Coaches
Spain's Luis de la Fuente and England's Gareth Southgate have a similar coaching biography: Two former defenders who both only trained one professional club before moving to the association. There, they were later promoted from U21 to national coach.
The 63-year-old de la Fuente had many Spaniards wishing they wouldn't see him at this tournament. Not only the lackluster performances during the EM qualification caused criticism, but especially his handling of the Kussaffair of the now retired and briefly arrested federation president Luis Rubiales at the Women's World Cup 2023. De la Fuente gave a forceful applause when Rubiales gave a crude defense speech. He later apologized for this.
Compared to this, the criticism of Southgate after the poor performances of the English at the beginning of the EM was harmless. And football legend Gary Lineker told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" in an interview about this final: "If he wins the EM, he can retire, accept his knighthood – and everyone will love him forever."
Duel of the Super Six
The position of the central defensive midfielder is the strategically most important one in modern football. This is known in Germany at least since Thomas Tuchel begged Bayern Munich so desperately and in vain for the acquisition of such a Six. The Munich team didn't want to pay 120 million euros for the Englishman Declan Rice last year. Arsenal did. And the 25-year-old missed neither a second at this EM.
England has the most expensive Six of the world – Spain has the best. The 27-year-old Rodri of Manchester City is considered the epitome on this position. "If Spain wins, I wouldn't be surprised if he was named best player of the tournament," even Lineker said.
## U21 European Championship Final: Spain vs England
Spain against England – this EURO 2021 final has happened before. In the U21 European Championship final of the previous year, the English won in Georgia with a score of 1:0. A reunion awaits on Sunday evening in Berlin for three players: For the English team, Cole Palmer (FC Chelsea) and Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United) have made it to the current EM squad. For the Spaniards, only midfielder Álex Baena (FC Villarreal) has managed it.
The U21 European Champions of 2019 are much more strongly represented in this EURO 2021 final. Besides goalkeeper Unai Simón and Leipzig's Dani Olmo, there are also midfielders Fabián Ruiz, Mikel Merino, and Mikel Oyarzabal. The Spanish coach was named de la Fuente then as now, but the final opponent was different back then. It was still Germany.
In the highly anticipated final of the European Football Championship, England and Spain will compete for the title on Sunday evening. Both Harry Kane and Dani Olmo, who have three goals each and are among the top scorers of the tournament, will aim to become champions and secure top scorer honors. Gareth Southgate, the English coach, has a similar coaching background to Spain's Luis de la Fuente, both having been promoted from U21 to national team coaches.
