England will come against Italy at the Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday, July 11, 2021, at 3:00 PM (ET) in the UEFA European Championship 2020 Final. This will be their 28th overall soccer meeting. Italy are the slight favorites in head-to-head clashes, having celebrated a victory on 11 occasions so far; England have grabbed a triumph eight times to this day, and an equal number of eight games have ended in a draw.
Gareth Southgate's side will appear in their first final in a major event since 1966. It will be England's first participation in a final for the European Championship and the first one since winning a 1966 World Cup in the final of a major event. For any European country, it is the longest interval between the World cup/Euro finals (55 years).
The Three Lions will compete in the Euro 2020 Final while hosting the event, marking the 11th time a European nation has competed in a major tournament final as the host in the World Cup/Euro competitions. England accomplished the same in 1966, defeating Germany 4-2 at Wembley Stadium. Both of the past two European host nation finalists (Portugal in Euro 2004 and France in Euro 2016) lost in the final; prior to this, only one of the first eight had lost in the final (Sweden at the 1958 World Cup).
Euro 2020: Will Phil Foden play in the Final?
On the eve of their Euro 2020 Final, England have faced a potential injury setback as player Phil Foden is expected to miss the clash. Just one day prior to the biggest sporting event in England's modern history, the Manchester City left-winger was subjected to a "small knock" in training. The 21-year-old began the opening two tournament matches and replaced Mason Mount in the Semi-Final win against Denmark in extra time. The remaining 25 Three Lions' players practiced normally ahead of Sunday's Final at the Wembley Stadium.
England manager Gareth Southgate confirmed the possible upsetting news on Saturday: "Foden is a doubt. We will have to check again but he's got a fairly minor foot injury. But it's just whether it's going to be one that clears up in time for him to be able to take part in the game, so we'll have to assess that again later."
Luckily, Southgate is endowed with an assortment of offensive skills. Foden has been widely deployed in all offensive positions, while Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish, and Jadon Sancho are among the other possibilities for the 50-year-old coach in case Phil Foden forfeits from the Italy matchup. Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount also play in positions that Foden can fill, albeit they are ahead of the City midfielder in the pecking order.
