Italy crowned their strong tournament with their second European Championship triumph since 1968 and destroyed hosts England’s hopes for their first title in 55 years. In front of the spectacular Wembley atmosphere of 67,173 spectators, coach Roberto Mancini’s team prevailed on Sunday in an intense and exciting final with 3-2 on penalties. After 120 minutes it was 1: 1. The Azzurri put away the shock of the early deficit by Luke Shaw (2nd minute) and initially equalized by Leonardo Bonucci (67th). In the penalty shootout, the English awarded Marcus Rashford, the still-Dortmunders Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, while Italy awarded Jorginho and Andrea Belotti.
Italy remained unbeaten in their 34th game in a row and rewarded themselves for a strong tournament three years after missing the 2018 World Cup. The Three Lions, on the other hand, have to wait for their first title since the 1966 World Cup success. Even the early lead and a strong performance were not enough for the team of coach Gareth Southgate to redeem. For the coach, after the unsuccessful home European championship in 1996, it was also the next personal Wembley setback: 25 years ago, Southgate was the only one to miss his penalty against Germany in the European semifinals in the old London stadium and ended the Englishman’s dream of the title.
The scenes hours before the first whistle from Dutch referee Björn Kuipers demonstrated how emotionally charged the mood was. Most of the fans celebrated peacefully, but quite a few misbehaved and tried to get into the stadium without tickets. In some parts of the city center there was a state of emergency, there were also fights and violence. The situation in the stadium seemed to be largely under control, the final act of the EM began at 9 p.m. sharp. The fact that a speedster made it to the pitch shortly before the end of regular time is only a footnote in the history of this memorable football evening.
As expected, Southgate started without BVB professional Jadon Sancho and somewhat surprisingly with a three-way back – as previously only in the 2-0 success in the round of 16 against Germany. And his eleven started furiously. Less than two minutes were played, a little nervous wobbler forgotten by Harry Maguire, when Shaw refined the Three Lions’ best counterattack in the entire tournament. The ball landed through captain Harry Kane at a full-back Kieran Trippier, whose flank was used by the other full-back Shaw with a remarkable dropkick. Southgate clenched his fingers briefly and clapped approvingly, but then immediately again buried both hands in his trouser pockets with a stoic expression on his face.
Southgate’s system changeover in particular initially turned out to be an ingenious trick. The attacks by Shaw and Trippier from outside were not prevented by the Azzurri because their offensive forces Insigne and Federico Chiesa mostly stayed in front. They didn’t manage too much there – until the 35th minute. Chiesa tried it from a distance, but his shot on the rain-soaked lawn just missed the post. At the former Dortmund Ciro Immobile, on the other hand, the action largely passed by until he was substituted in the 55th minute. Marco Verratti’s shot in stoppage time in the first half posed no problems for England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
After the restart, Mancini changed the offensive and was rewarded for it. The game remained fast-paced, rapid and full of gripping scenes. Insignes free kick went over it (51.), Chiesa failed to Pickford (62.). But then the big moment of defensive veteran Bonucci struck. Verratti’s header was parried by Pickford quickly before the 34-year-old won the 1: 1 he deserved. This makes him the oldest player who has ever scored in a European Championship final. At the age of 34 years and 71 days, he replaced the former German national player Bernd Hölzenbein, who won the 1976 European Championship final against Czechoslovakia at the age of 30 years and 103 days – the DFB selection lost on penalties. This time it also went to penalties – with a happy ending for Italy.