The Euro 2024 final is set and Spain is the favorite heading into Sunday’s meeting with England. The Spaniards emerged as the tournament favorite after beating Germany in a quarterfinal and remain the favorite after getting by France in a semifinal.
England was the favorite once the knockout stage started. The Three Lions had a less difficult path to the final, but did come from behind to beat the Netherlands in Wednesday’s semifinal.
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With a win, Spain would become the nation with the most European championships. Spain and Germany both have won the title three times. Spain’s previous wins came in 1964 (at home), 2008 and 2012.
England has never won at the Euros, but is making a second straight appearance in the final. England lost in penalties to Italy at Wembley Stadium in London three years ago.
All odds from BetMGM. Odds to win or draw are over 90 minutes.
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Spain vs. England
Regular time odds:
This match is a meeting of two teams that got to the final in opposite ways.
Spain cruised through the group stage with three wins, the only team in the tournament to do so. The quarterfinal win against Germany required extra time, but wins against Georgia and France were more convincing. On pure aesthetics, Spain has been one of the most entertaining teams to watch and it’s easy to argue Spain has looked like the best team throughout.
Meanwhile, England labored throughout the tournament to get here. The Three Lions beat Serbia 1-0 in their opener, but were unimpressive in draws against Slovenia and Denmark to close out group play. Then, England trailed for over an hour against Slovakia and needed a 95th minute goal from Jude Bellingham to force extra time in that match. In the quarterfinals, Switzerland took the lead in the 75th minute, but England answered again and eventually won in penalties. The Netherlands scored first in the semifinal, but Ollie Watkins produced a 90th-minute winner.
England trailed in all three knockout games and won only two of its six matches inside 90 minutes. Manager Gareth Southgate has been under pressure for the English being defensive and mostly uninteresting to watch, but the results have been good enough.
In some ways, England is similar to Spain’s semifinal opponent, France. France is an incredibly talented side that has had fantastic results in recent years, but struggled to score and was, to put it bluntly, not interesting to watch considering the ability on the squad. England has made semifinals at three of the past four major tournaments and has a talented squad on paper, but has also been downright dull to watch for much of this tournament. England probably played its best game of the tournament against the Dutch, but Spain is a step up in level of competition.
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It’s a one-match final between two of the powers in the sport so Spain isn’t a massive favorite, but the odds clearly favor Spain. This is not viewed as a toss-up. Spain is a bigger favorite against England than it was against France (and a bigger favorite than England was against the Netherlands). This is the first time this tournament that England has not been favored.
More Euro 2024 coverage
Spain take risks and reap the rewards – it’s what makes them so different at Euro 2024
Dani Olmo, Spain’s shy Euro 2024 Golden Boot leader and €60m summer transfer target
Late substitute Watkins hits winner to set up Euro 2024 final with Spain
(Photo of Nico Williams: Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)
