England lost Euro 2024 to a dominant Spain squad. Will its curse ever end?

BERLIN — England didn’t choke, not even a little bit. Not this time.

The most tortured soccer nation of all came close again on Sunday, and feels that oh-so-familiar grip of pain, but didn't suffer from a self-inflicted wound.

It wasn’t because they weren’t up to the challenge. It wasn’t because they lacked sufficient belief. It wasn’t because the moment arrived and it was too much to handle. Gareth Southgate wasn’t too cautious; not like before. He didn’t mess up his subs and tactics.

Spain was too good. 

Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Jordan Pickford, Kobbie Mainoo and all the others don’t get — not yet, at least — to have their names etched in eternal national soccer history along with the heroes of 1966, who won the World Cup for what is still the country’s only major title.

They fell behind 1-0 four times in the knockout stage and found the willpower and wisdom to overcome all those deficits, Nico Williams’ opener on this night included, against the odds, only to fall to a final late cut of the knife from Mikel Oyarzabal.

Does it sting a little less because England, this time, gave its best account of itself yet came up against an opponent too strong for everybody prior and showed itself to be so again?

Fractionally, maybe.

Spain is the best team on the planet, a force of depth and technique and ball movement already, but now with the twin dynamos in 22-year-old Nico Williams and 17-year-old Lamine Yamal marauding up its wings.

That the winner came from the sub Oyarzabal, who replaced the injured Rodri (winner of the Player of the Tournament award) at halftime, says it all. It is a system populated by outstanding players, and there are world-class replacements virtually as good, able to deputize when needed.

What now for England? Oof, what a question. Getting this close, a second straight Euros final, has created the feeling they are inching closer, that surely it won’t be long before that endless curse it consigned to the past. But it doesn’t always work that way. 

Sometimes the chances don’t reappear and even the marginal opportunities — Spain was a solid favorite going in — must be grabbed, or else another wait in the wilderness follows.

The quality of the England team suggests they can knock on the door again. Bellingham is one of the world’s best, had a poor tournament, and they still made the final. He and Saka and Mainoo and Phil Foden should have multiple World Cups and Euros ahead, even if skipper Kane, 31 in two weeks, doesn’t.

Yet the architect of it all, Gareth Southgate, is out of contract in December and, visibly upset by this, may feel getting back into club coaching is the right move, rather than sticking around for the 2026 World Cup in North America.

"England are in a really good position in terms of the experience they have," Southgate said afterward. "Most of this squad will be around for the World Cup and the next Euros. There is a lot to look forward to, but at this moment it’s not any consolation."

Referring to England as "they," not "we?" Doesn’t that sound like a man on his way out? Is that reading too much into it?

Either way, this was a different kind of ride for England, which made many think there could, at last, be a different kind of outcome.

No beating up on weaker opponents, fueling unrealistic expectations, then falling in a heap when it really mattered here.

Over the past month, the adversity came early and often, and, in a very un-England national team kind of way, the team maneuvered and scrapped and sometimes blustered their way past it. Right until the end.

If not for Bellingham’s overhead kick against Slovakia, the dream would have ended 15 days earlier. At this tournament, there were no penalty shootout mishaps. There were close encounters, and until Sunday, England survived them.

Southgate’s men got to this point like title-winning teams often do, by simply getting the job done, style points optional.

But they were on the receiving end of late resiliency here, and though those kinds of winning goals hurt, it is hard to argue with the fairness of this result. When you have the talent of Spain, and the verve of its wingers, the style points are coming regardless.

"It is an opportunity missed," Kane said. "These finals aren’t easy to get to. You have to take it when it comes and we haven’t done it again. It’s extremely painful and it’ll hurt for a long time."

And, despite everything — and until some other, better day — that’s what it always comes down to with England.

The pain, always there. Sure, moments of joy are interspersed with it, until you realize the cheer was only there because it brought temporary hope, which can be the cruelest gift of all.

So it was again. A different team, a different vibe, a different sense of purpose, and a different, sturdier, smarter England.

The same emptiness, though. Always lurking, always threatening, and when it all ended, still there.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX.