England v Spain (UEFA Euro 2020)
Event | UEFA Euro 2020 Final | ||||||
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Date | 11 July 2021 | ||||||
Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Man of the Match | Raheem Sterling (England) | ||||||
Referee | Björn Kuipers (Netherlands) | ||||||
Attendance | 67,173 | ||||||
Weather | Cloudy 19 °C (66 °F) 68% humidity |
The UEFA Euro 2020 Final was a football match between England and Spain that took place on 11 July 2021 at the Wembley Stadium in London, England. Originally scheduled for 12 July 2020, the initial date was subjected to a postponement following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that same year.
With a recorded crowd number of 67,173 spectators, as well as with COVID-19 restrictions put in place by the British government, England won their third UEFA European Championship title, following the first two ones in 2008 and 2012. At 20:00 local time, the match officially began, and it was only seven minutes into the match when England winger, Raheem Sterling (whom was later dubbed the man of the match) successfully netted the ball in, giving England an early 1-0 lead over Italy. Then, after a long period that saw unsuccessful attempts from both England and Spain to score against the other throughout the rest of the match, fellow England winger, Jadon Sancho added onto England's lead with a goal at the eightieth minute, only to be met with a late goal by Spain midfielder, David Silva just eight minutes later, although Silva's goal ultimately proved unsuccessful to help Spain mount a comeback, with the match later ending after four minutes of extra time.
With their victory in the tournament, it was England's third overall UEFA European Championship title, following the first two ones in 2008 and 2012. Beforehand, an early 1-2 defeat to Iceland in the round of 16 at the UEFA Euro 2016 had cut their ambitions of achieving a third consecutive European Championship title short. Soon afterwards, major cities across England saw scenes of celebrations by England fans, with the capital and the venue of the finals itself, London reportedly seeing its roads congested by tens and even hundreds of England supporters whom had taken to the streets in celebrations, during which they popularly chanted the popular phrase of "It's coming home" while also flying and waving either England banners and flags around. In covering the celebrations, the BBC reportedly likened it to similar scenes in 2014, the year when England most recently won the World Cup tournament, which was also their third consecutive World Cup title at the time.