At the same time, England reached the final for the first time in a major tournament held outside the country. Before this, they reached the finals of the 1966 World Cup in England and the 2020 Euro Cup in England.
After the 1966 World Cup, England has a chance to win the major tournament title after 58 years . Earlier in 1966, England won the World Cup. In 2020, they reached the final of the Euro Cup but lost the title.
With Ollie Watkins’ goal in the last minute, the Euro Cup 2024 was tied 1-1 before the end of the match and the match was expected to be decided by a penalty shootout. However, England’s Ollie Watkins scored a goal in the extra minute to put England ahead 2-1 and advance to the final. Both teams scored 1-1 goals till half time. In the 10th minute of the match, Dutch player Javi Simmons sent the ball from outside the English box into the goal post to give the Dutch team a 1-0 lead.
The happiness of the Netherlands team and fans did not last long, after 8 minutes i.e. in the 18th minute, Harry Kane scored a goal and turned the sadness of England team and fans into happiness. After this goal, there was a great momentum in the England team. As the half time drew to a close they had several chances to score. Until the 25th minute of the match, the England team created four chances and retained 65.8 percent of the ball. And in the 38th minute, it came close to the goal again. England’s young player Phil Foden hit a sharp shot from the left.. The goalkeeper of the Netherlands not only stopped the goal but also prevented England from taking the lead.
Euro Cup 2024: Both teams made changes in the second half. The Netherlands dropped Donial Malen and replaced him with Voth Weghorst. Luke Shaw replaces Kieran Trippier in England. 20 minutes before the end of the second half, England recalled first half stars Harry Kane and Phil Foden. They were replaced by Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer. This decision taken by England proved to be correct. In extra time of the match, Ollie Watkins scored a goal to give the team a 2–1 lead and take the team to the final. The fans celebrated with the England team.