Spainvs.England

While La Roja have already been crowned European champions on three occasions and can set a new outright record with victory in the German capital, England have never conquered the continent as a senior men's team.

Only 90 minutes may be separating either side from a slice of stardom, but should nothing separate the sides after one and a half or even two hours of gruelling action, the destiny of the European Championships title will be decided from the penalty spot.

To whet your appetite for a dreaded 12-yard showdown even further, Sports Mole compares Spain and England's respective penalty shootout records ahead of Sunday's tantalising final.

Hitherto renowned for their lack of prowess from 12 yards, England have now taken part in 11 major tournament penalty shootouts and have traditionally failed to handle the enormous pressure, only winning four of them.

However, three of those four triumphs from the penalty spot have come since the 2018 World Cup, where England ended a streak of five consecutive penalty shootout losses by sinking Colombia in the last 16, not long before edging out Switzerland from 12 yards in the 2018-19 Nations League third-placed playoff.

History repeated itself for the Swiss only a matter of days ago, where just for the second time ever, the Three Lions posted a 100% success rate from the penalty spot to prevail in a nerve-jangling quarter-final.

Not a single Three Lions supporter will need reminding of the Italy-inflicted heartbreak under the Wembley arch this time three years ago, though, as Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were guilty of the misses that extinguished England's Euro 2020 dreams, before they were subjected to sickening racial abuse online.

Before banishing their penalty curse versus Colombia, England were forever the failures from the spot; see Italy at Euro 2012, Portugal at the 2006 World Cup, Portugal at Euro 2004, Argentina at the 1998 World Cup and Germany at Euro 1996.

The Three Lions also memorably lost their inaugural penalty shootout to the West Germans at Italia 90, and only one of their first seven penalty shootouts ended with England advancing, but there will be no prizes for guessing who it came against.

Indeed, Spain ought to have 12-yard revenge on their minds this week, 28 years on from being knocked out of the Euro 1996 quarter-finals on penalties by the Three Lions, but their overall record in shootouts makes for more pleasant reading.

La Roja have triumphed in over half of their major tournament penalty showdowns - winning seven of 13, including their most recent one in last year's Nations League final against Croatia.

Spain rectified some previous penalty errors that day, having memorably failed to score any of their spot kicks in the 2022 World Cup last 16 versus Morocco, while also seeing their Euro 2020 dreams crushed by Italy in the semis from 12 yards.

However, four of La Roja's six shootouts in the European Championships have seen the three-time winners prevail, including three on the bounce in 2008 (Italy QF), 2012 (Portugal SF) and 2020 (Switzerland QF).