Spainvs.England

The red-clad Roja and white-clad Three Lions meet at the Olympiastadion in Berlin for Sunday's blockbuster final, having both come from behind to triumph in their respective semi-final wins over France and the Netherlands.

While Luis de la Fuente's men were indebted to a Lamine Yamal stunner and deflected Dani Olmo effort in their beating of France, Gareth Southgate's side needed a controversial Harry Kane penalty and 90th-minute Ollie Watkins winner against the Netherlands to reach the Euros final for the second tournament running.

Spain and England have already locked horns on 27 occasions down the years - meetings that have thrown up some memorable competitive and non-competitive results - and here, Sports Mole looks back on some of those classic contests ahead of Sunday's spectacular.

England 0-0 Spain (4-2 pens) | Euro 1996 Quarter-Final

Back when last-16 ties at the European Championships were not a thing, England and Spain's opening knockout contest at Euro 1996 saw the Three Lions welcome their Roja counterparts to the old Wembley Stadium after both sides enjoyed unbeaten group-stage campaigns.

While there were no goals to be had in normal time, the quarter-final was not without controversy, as Spain had a couple of goals disallowed for offside, including one perfectly good strike for Salinas that would have been given in this day and age of VAR.

Another 30 passed with no nets rippling, leading to the dreaded lottery of penalties, but La Roja's first taker - Fernando Hierro - could only whack his effort against the crossbar, while David Platt, Paul Gascoigne, Alan Shearer and an emotional Stuart Pearce registered for the Three Lions.

The latter's clinical spot kick marked a redemption arc following his 1990 World Cup shootout heartache - drawing comparisons to Bukayo Saka after his Italy agony and successful Switzerland penalty - while David Seaman kept Miguel Angel Nadal's effort to send England into the semis, which Southgate needs no reminding of.

Spain 2-3 England | UEFA Nations League Group Stage | Oct 15, 2018

The most recent clash between Sunday's Euro 2024 finalists - and a thrilling one to boot - saw Spain and England pit their wits against one another in their second 2018-19 UEFA Nations League affair, one month on from La Roja's narrow success at Wembley.

The Estadio Benito Villamarin in Seville was the location for the rematch, where Southgate's England tore Luis Enrique's men to shreds inside just 38 minutes, as Raheem Sterling struck a first-half brace either side of a Marcus Rashford finish.

Some choice words from Enrique at half time did trigger a reaction from the hosts, who cut the deficit by 33% through a smart Paco Alcacer header, before Sergio Ramos also used his noggin to great effect for Spain's second.

However, the latter's effort came in the seventh minute of seven added on, leaving Spain's fightback futile as they were left to lament their shoddy first-half defending, which would eventually prove costly in the grand scheme of things too; England pipped La Roja to a spot in the Nations League finals by a single point.

Spain 1-2 England | Euro 1968 Quarter-Final Second Leg

A far cry from the 24-team tournament of 2024, Euro 1968 only had space for four finalists, meaning that the quarter-finals - contested between the eight teams to win their first preliminary sections - were still part of the qualifying competition.

Spain and England would cross paths in a two-legged tie for the right to advance to the final tournament, and it was the reigning world champions at the time who would gain a slender first-leg advantage, as the late Bobby Charlton scored the only goal at Wembley.

Were Alf Ramsey's men able to prove their mettle at the Bernabeu, they would punch their ticket to just the third edition of the men's Euros, but they were brought back to square one when Amancio levelled the aggregate scores at Real Madrid's headquarters.

However, the Three Lions' slender lead was restored just seven minutes later courtesy of a Martin Peters header, before Norman Hunter's first-time strike in the 82nd minute found its way into the back of the Roja net - with the aid of a deflection - to send England through to their maiden European Championships.

England 7-1 Spain | International Friendly | Dec 9, 1931

Two years on from first locking horns in a seven-goal spectacular in 1929 - which Spain won 4-3 to become the first continental European side to defeat England - the Three Lions welcomed their conquerors to Arsenal's old Highbury Stadium for a rematch on familiar soil.

Long before England appointed Walter Winterbottom as their first full-time manager, the Three Lions were coached by a trainer from the FA Selection Committee, while La Roja had been under the tutelage of Jose María Mateos for almost a decade by the time the 1931 contest rolled around.

Nevertheless, revenge was served cold by England at Highbury, as the hosts demolished their Spanish counterparts 7-1; Tommy Johnson, Jack Smith and Sammy Crooks all bagged braces, while legendary Evertonian Dixie Dean also got in on the act.

To this day, the Spanish men's team have never suffered a heavier defeat than their 7-1 shellacking in North London, having also lost by the same scoreline against Italy three years prior.

England 2-2 Spain | International Friendly | Nov 15, 2016

Following a successful start to life in the England hotseat - accruing seven points from nine on offer in World Cup 2018 qualifiers - Southgate's inaugural friendly match in charge of the Three Lions saw Spain make the trek to the new Wembley in November 2016.

Julen Lopetegui was the man in control of the Roja reins on that occasion. but his side were on course for a humbling defeat in the English capital, where Adam Lallana found the top corner with a perfect penalty before Jamie Vardy met a Jordan Henderson cross to head home England's second.

Even when Iago Aspas curled in a sweetly-struck 89th-minute effort off the post, the ex-Liverpool man's finish would ostensibly be scant consolation for Spain, and many fans had already filtered out of the ground before the visitors cut the deficit in half.

However, there would be an incredibly late twist to the tale, as in the sixth minute of second-half injury time, Dani Carvajal's delicate cross was on the money for Isco, who chested the ball down and poked through the legs of substitute goalkeeper Tom Heaton to complete a fabulous comeback.

That 2-2 draw actually marked the end of a four-game spell as interim boss for Southgate, but with two wins and two stalemates under his belt from his stint as caretaker manager, the ex-Middlesbrough head coach was given the reins on a permanent basis a couple of weeks later.

What followed for Southgate has been a period of history-making tournament runs coupled with scathing criticism in equal measure, but once again, only 90 minutes is separating the England men's team from an elusive slice of international stardom.