La Roja have proved that you don't have to be boring to win international trophies following their thrilling run in Germany
Sometimes football can be straightforward. Over the coming days, England's Euro 2024 campaign will be relentlessly dissected from all angles – and there's a lot to get through.
Why did Harry Kane move with the verve of an arthritis-stricken manatee all tournament, for example? Could we not have subjected Kieran Trippier to dangerous, experimental surgery to make him left-footed? And why did Declan Rice seem to forget England were playing in white in Berlin?
All of these posers are worthy of extensive analysis. However, the final itself can be understood fairly simply: Spain are a better football team than England, so they won.
La Roja's triumph wasn't down to having a vastly-superior talented squad, though. As we've heard so many times over the past year or so, this might just be the best Three Lions group in history, especially in terms of strength in depth, while Spain even had to fare without Player of the Tournament Rodri for the entirety of the second half.
Instead, Luis de la Fuente's side's emergence as the standout Euro 2024 team was a result of their brave playing style and well-balanced team selections. And it's a campaign that the Football Association should look at closely as they map out the country's likely post-Gareth Southgate future.
Getty Innovation mixed with familiarity
Right from the outset, Spain have been the footballing story of the tournament. Their opener against Croatia marked an extremely significant moment for a nation that has worshipped at the altar of tiki-taka for the best part of two decades.
In their maiden outing at Euro 2024, De la Fuente's charges registered a lower share of the possession than their opponents for the first time in 136 matches. All the hallmarks that would go on to make this Spain side special were present in that encounter.
Flying wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal were unplayable for significant spells, adding a refreshing directness to proceedings that had been lacking under Luis Enrique. Rodri was coolness personified and complemented nicely by the tidy-but-expansive Fabian Ruiz and pass-master Pedri. Alvaro Morata, not always universally appreciated, played his part as the selfless, nuisance centre-forward too.
Their performance earned them plenty of admirers, as well as a 3-0 win. There was much more success to come, too.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesBest tournament team in recent memory
Spain completed the group stage with a 100 percet winning record, first downing Italy in the most one-sided 1-0 victory of all time, before a much-rotated side beat Albania by the same scoreline. This set up a last-16 meeting with Georgia.
The minnows would take the lead thanks to a Robin Le Normand own goal, though four different scorers ensured that there would be no repeat of Spain's shock World Cup elimination at the hands of Morocco. The attacking fluency they showed that day was quite incredible, with a 76% share of possession resulting in 35 shots on goal.
Germany in the quarter-finals presented a more intimidating challenge, but they found a way as La Roja's marvellous midfield trio showcased their talents. Substitute Mikel Merino was the hero, grabbing the extra-time winner, but early sub Dani Olmo, Rodri and Fabian were all sensational, pressing as a unit and using the ball positively to help send one of the favourites out.
France were slain next, in what will go down in history as Lamine Yamal's coming-out party to the world. The teenager scored a world-class equaliser before Olmo provided his own moment of magic to settle proceedings and book a place in the final.
Spain were heavy favourites against England and, after edging the first half, began to carve open their opponents after the interval. Williams found the breakthrough inside two second-half minutes, and if it wasn't for some lame finishing and Jordan Pickford's heroics between the sticks, the game would've been over before Cole Palmer equalised with an exquisite strike.
As it turned out, though, this was simply a pothole on Spain's procession to the title. Four minutes from time, Mikel Oyarzabal finished off a typically incisive counter-attack to ensure football came home – to Spain, that is.
GettyEasy on the eye
When you look back at their run to the title, it's impossible to not be seriously impressed. Placed in a tricky group and then on the difficult side of the draw, Spain still managed to become the first team to win seven games at a European Championship.
This wasn't solely a triumph of results, though. Spain's feat is made all the more noteworthy by just how watchable they've been. Free-flowing, full of energy out of possession and capable of keeping hold of the ball with relative ease when they need, they've looked like an elite club side in a sea of relative dysfunction this tournament.
Their bravery and confidence has been eye-catching, too. Only Portugal averaged more progressive carries per 90 minutes at Euro 2024, and they also made the top four for take-ons attempted, carries into the final third and progressive passes.
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GettyChallenging the status quo
Witnessing the best footballing team of the tournament lift the trophy has also challenged the orthodoxy of recent international tournaments. At Euro 2016, Portugal quite frankly stunk up the place going forward, before clutching a dramatic final victory against France.
Didier Deschamps' side have hardly been entertainers themselves, either. Considering the insane talent at Les Bleus' disposal, the amount of eye-catching displays they've treated us to over the past eight years is staggeringly low, with solidity being prioritised above all else. Even at the most-recent World Cup, Lionel Scaloni's victorious Argentina were shocked by Saudi Arabia in the opening game and were far from convincing during the knockout stages, relying on grit and determination to get the job done.
These case studies have resulted in a widely-held belief that in order to triumph at tournaments, you need to adopt a safety-first approach. England boss Gareth Southgate certainly subscribed to this particular truth, especially after their World Cup exit in 2022. In Qatar, the Three Lions played the most entertaining football of his reign, only to crash out in the quarter-finals.
Scarred from that experience, he largely opted to revert to type by keeping things safer this tournament, instructing his charges to remain compact before counting on substitutions or individual moments of xG-defying magic to win games. Reaching the final might suggest his methods have been vindicated, but playing in this way means you must be pretty much spotless defensively or exceedingly lucky. They were neither in Berlin.