Gareth Southgate's England luminaries broke multiple European Championship records as they dramatically sank the Netherlands 2-1 to reach the final of Euro 2024 on Wednesday evening.
Few had the Three Lions down as favourites for the Signal Iduna Park semi-final, as the Euro 2020 runners-up had not won a game in normal time since narrowly edging past Serbia in their opening group game.
It took two moments of individual brilliance from Jude Bellingham (Slovakia) and Bukayo Saka (Switzerland) to save England in the earlier knockout rounds, and for the third match running, Southgate's men conceded first in Dortmund.
However, the Three Lions responded brilliantly to Xavi Simons's delightful opener, as Harry Kane won a controversial penalty from Denzel Dumfries and placed his spot kick perfectly in the corner, despite Bart Verbruggen going the right way.
England ended the first half in the ascendancy, but Ronald Koeman's men had tightened up and began to carve out chances of their own in the second period, but the Euro 1988 winners failed to make the most of their dominance and were made to pay.
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England, Kane make history in Netherlands victory
With the game just about to enter injury time, substitutes Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins combined for the latter to clinically fire home from a tight angle and spark Three Lions pandemonium, as Southgate's men earned a date with Spain in Sunday's final.
In doing so, a few more pages of history were written both collectively and individually, as England became the first side in the history of the men's Euros to reach the final after going a goal down in both the quarters and the semis.
Declan Rice was at fault for Simons's opener, as the Arsenal man was robbed of the ball by the Paris Saint-Germain prospect, but his blushes were spared by a controversial refereeing decision from Felix Zwayer.
Kane volleyed over the top not long after the Dutch had taken the lead, but the Bayern Munich frontman dropped to the turf writhing in agony, having been caught by the studs of right-back Dumfries as he let fly.
Zwayer initially waved away England's appeals before pointing to the spot upon a brief look at the monitor, and Kane sent even more records tumbling with his successful equalising penalty.
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Tottenham Hotspur's all-time leading goalscorer has now scored nine knockout goals at the Euros and World Cup, more than any other European male player in history, leaving Gerd Muller, Miroslav Klose, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann in his wake.
In addition, Kane has struck six goals in the knockout stage of the Euros - also an all-time high - while equalling Alan Shearer's record of seven Euros goals for the England men's team.
Finally, 19-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo broke a record even before the first ball was kicked at the Signal Iduna Park, becoming the youngest player to start a major tournament semi-final for England.
When is the Euro 2024 final?
England have three days to recover before a mouthwatering Euro 2024 final against Spain, which takes place at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on July 14, with kickoff scheduled for 8pm UK time.
La Roja have an extra 24 hours to recuperate from their semi-final exploits, which saw La Roja also come from a goal down to sink France 2-1 at the Allianz Arena.
Ben Knapton
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