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Spain and England will meet in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday in front of a plethora of royalty and dignitaries, with much of the focus on a teenage wonderkid and whether one of the world’s most underachieving teams can end their decades-long wait for a title.
The match is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. local time in Berlin and is expected to be attended by Prince William, Spain’s King Felipe, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Keir Starmer, Britain’s new prime minister.
Spain are bidding to win the Euros for a record fourth time, breaking a tie with Germany/West Germany, and for the first time since 2012. The team’s new superstar is winger Lamine Yamal, a prodigy who turned 17 on Saturday.
England, who lay claim to be the birthplace of football, haven’t won a men’s major title since the 1966 World Cup and that was on home soil. Their women’s team won Euro 2022 at Wembley two years ago and reached the final of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
This is the men’s team’s second straight European Championship final, having lost in a penalty shootout in the final to Italy three years ago.
The teams have taken different paths to the final, which will take place at Berlin’s Olympiastadion — the 71,000-seat venue built for the 1936 Olympic Games and which hosted the 2006 World Cup final that featured Zinedine Zidane’s infamous headbutt.
Spain have won all six of their matches and are widely regarded as the best-performing team at Euro 2024, having seen off Germany and France in the knockout stage. England were unimpressive in the group stage but have shown resilience in coming from behind in all three of their knockout-stage games.