England write their name in history with UEFA Euro 2024 semi-final win

At Signal Iduna Park in Germany on Wednesday, England defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in second-half stoppage time to advance to the 2024 European Championship final. Ollie Watkins scored the winning goal in this scenario.  The 1966 FIFA World Cup as well as the 2020 European Championship were the two previous major international tournaments in which the Three Lions had qualified for the final on foreign soil. This was the first time this had happened and the manner in which they achieved it was also tremendous.

After the game, England skipper Harry Kane spoke to the media as he said, “Every single player, every single one, I am so proud of them. You might get five minutes, one minute, but you can get out and win the tournament.”

The Dutch had taken the lead earlier in the match when Xavi Simons scored from the outside of the penalty area during the seventh minute. But after ten minutes, Denzel Dumfries' late tackle on Kane gave England the opportunity to tie the score as play was halted for a possible penalty.

Felix Zwayer, the referee, looked at the VAR monitors and signaled for Harry Kane to finish calmly to tie the score at one. Within minutes, England had an opportunity to take the lead when Phil Foden glided past Dutch defenders and came dangerously close to scoring, but Dumfries saved his blushes with a vital goal-line clearance.

Gareth Southgate, the England manager, made some bold substitutions in the second half, starting with Watkins, who had appeared in only twenty minutes in five games so far during the tournament, in place of Harry Kane, who scored the most goals for England at the Euro 2024. England changed their strategy and partnered with Watkins and Cole Palmer, the latter replacing Foden, in injury time to throw the English supporters into a frenzy.

England write their name in history with win over Netherlands

England have added their name to the list of elite nations who have appeared in back-to-back finals of the European Championships.

Teams that played 2 (or more) consecutive European Championship finals are:

Soviet Union: 1960-1964

Germany: 1972-1976-1980 and 1992-1996

Spain: 2008-2012

ENGLAND: 2020-2024

Coaches to have reached two consecutive finals of a major tournament:

Helmut Schön

Berti Vogts

Lionel Scaloni

Joachim Low

Vincent del Bosque

Gareth Southgate