SO our worst fears have come true, the English are in the final. Fan-friggin-tastic.
Football's probably coming home, I guess. Only no, it actually already is home.
You see, the original meaning behind Frank Skinner, David Baddiel and The Lightning Seeds' 1996 'banger' Three Lions has nothing to do with cockily gloating about how England are destined for glory.
The line "football's coming home" actually refers to the fact that a major international tournament was, for the first time since 1966, being held in the country of the sport's birth - England.
It's simply been usurped, by overzealous, uninformed football twerps with short memories.
Anyway...
England face Italy this weekend and if you fancy watching it, here's everything you need to know:
When is the Euro 2020 final?
The match will take place on Sunday, July 11.
What time is kick off?
Kick off is at 8pm.
Which TV channels are showing the match?
For Irish viewers, live coverage will start on RTÉ 2 from 7pm.
For UK viewers, the match will be shown on both BBC and ITV.
Where is the final being held?
At Wembley Stadium in London. At least 60,000 supporters are expected to be in attendance, giving England quite the atmospheric advantage.
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 07: Players of England pose for a team photograph prior to the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship Semi-final match between England and Denmark at Wembley Stadium on July 07, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Eddie Keogh - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)Team news
Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka had been England’s only fitness concern, missing the thrashing of Ukraine before returning in place of Jadon Sancho in the front three to face Denmark.
Italy are still without Leonardo Spinazzola after the Roma full-back was stretchered off against Belgium and subsequently underwent surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon. He will be out for several months.
Route to the final
Italy began Euro 2020 as arguably the tournament's brightest-looking side. Back-to-back 3-0 victories over Turkey and Switzerland saw them become the first team to qualify for the knockout stage, and a 1-0 win over Wales on match-day three saw them top their group with maximum points and zero goals conceded.
The Italian scraped past Austria in extra-time in the round-of-16 before impressively putting the much-fancied Belgians to the sword in the quarter-finals. They nearly came unstuck against Spain in the semi-final but wriggled past them following a tense penalty shootout.
Jorginho of Italy and Chelsea celebrates with Matteo Pessina and Domenico Berardi after scoring their sides winning penalty in the penalty shoot out during the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship Semi-final match between Italy and Spain at Wembley Stadium on July 06, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Carl Recine - Pool/Getty Images)England may not have started the tournament all that convincingly, but like the Italians they qualified from their group without conceding a single goal. A bore-draw with neighbours Scotland was sandwiched between reasonable victories over Croatia and Czech Republic.
They met eternal-rivals Germany in the last 16, and while, in truth, the match was cagey, the Colosseum-like crowd inside Wembley Stadium inspired England to a 2-0 win. A routine 4-0 over Ukraine in the quarter-final was followed by a narrow extra-time victory over Denmark in the semis to set up England's first major final in over 50 years.
Head-to-head
England and Italy have faced eachother four times at major tournaments in the past, and each time the Italians have come out on top:
- Euro 1980, group stage: Italy 1-0 England
- World Cup 1990, third-place playoff: Italy 2-1 England
- Euro 2012, quarter-final: Italy 0-0 England (Italy win on penalties)
- World Cup 2014, group stage: England 1-2 Italy
In all competitions throughout history, England have faced Italy 27 times. Of those, the Italians have won 10 matches, England have won eight, and there have been nine draws.
Italy's Andrea Pirlo beats England goalkeeper Joe Hart with an audacious chip penalty during the Euro 2012 quarter-finalPrevious tournament success
England have never won the European Championships before, nor have they ever the final of the competition before. They're one and only tournament victory came in 1966 when they beat West Germany 4-2 after extra-time on home soil.
Italy meanwhile have enjoyed far more international success. They won the Euros back in 1968, and were runners-up in 2000 and again in 2012. The Italians have also won the World Cup four times, in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006.
