Spainvs.England

It will be the climax of a month of footballing festivities, and the culmination of a competition which has been criticised by many, but also sporadically sprinkled with unforgettable moments that will stand the test of time.

In many ways, Euro 2024 has been a paradox - paralysingly dull at times, paradisiacal at others. And that is just England.

Jude Bellingham's bicycle kick against Slovakia. Bukayo Saka's stunner against Switzerland. Jordan Pickford's penalty heroics and the perfect shootout success which followed. Ollie Watkins's winner against Netherlands.

For many generations of England fans, all of those moments would have catapulted right to the top of their list of highlights while supporting their country, and will last far longer in the collective consciousness than the team's all-round performances in those games.

A memorable Euros for some, difficult to forget for others

Beyond England, Euro 2024 will hold a special place in the hearts of many others too.

Georgia beat Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal to reach the knockout rounds in their first-ever major tournament. Romania made it through the group stage of an international tournament for the first time since 2000. Sixteen-year-old Lamine Yamal will now be held up as the prime example of a prodigy, much like Pele has been for 66 years since bursting onto the scene at the 1958 World Cup.

On the flip side, many elements of Euro 2024 have failed to live up to their substantial billing.

Ronaldo's last dance ended in a goalless whimper which did more to harm his legacy than enhance it. Belgium's golden generation and Italy's defending champions departed in similar ignominy.

Even those who have got to the latter stages have largely flattered to deceive; semi-finalists France and finalists England provided confoundingly conservative contributions for the most part, and have copped considerable condemnation as a result.

You can't start a fire without a spark

The new favourite chant for England fans at Euro 2024 has been a Phil Foden-inspired adaptation of Bruce Springsteen's classic 'Dancing in the Dark' - "You can't start a fire without a spark".

In reality, it took a few sparks for England's tournament to really get going; after losing to Iceland in the build-up, Bellingham's early goal in the opener against Serbia was a much-needed morale boost which Gareth Southgate's side did not build on.

Similar was true against Denmark, when Harry Kane broke the deadlock in a match of very few other highlights for the Three Lions. There were no sparks of any kind against Slovenia - one of the dullest and most uninspiring England performances in recent memory.

The sparks have regularly been flying in the knockout stages though, with Bellingham, Kane, Saka, Pickford, Ivan Toney, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Watkins among those to have provided the type of moments that can turn a tournament around and kick a team into life.

England were marginally better against Switzerland and were hugely improved in the first half especially against Netherlands, suggesting that they are peaking at the perfect time and that the fire may well be burning in time for Sunday's showdown with Spain.

A changing narrative for Southgate's Jekyll & Hyde side

For the vast majority of this tournament, the narrative surrounding England has been largely negative, with most of it questioning Southgate's ability as manager to get the best out of an incredibly talented group of players.

The attempt to "experiment" with Alexander-Arnold in midfield at a major tournament backfired. The puzzling decision to then switch to Conor Gallagher instead of Kobbie Mainoo or Adam Wharton was criticised. The ill-advised comments claiming that England were struggling without Kalvin Phillips - a player with only five Premier League starts and eight international caps over the past two years - was ridiculed.

Many of those questions and criticisms were valid, and came at a time when England were unequivocally underperforming, but so far the ends have justified the means.

Of course, we have not yet reached the true end in order to judge whether the means were fully justified, and there are plenty of onlookers who would regard anything less than lifting the trophy as the latest failure by Southgate to turn a world-class squad and favourable route in major tournaments into trophies.

However, there is no doubt that England have enjoyed unprecedented levels of success under Southgate, having now reached two finals, a semi-final and a quarter-final during his four tournaments at the helm; prior to that, England's only taste of a final was the 1966 World Cup on home soil.

The Southgate era does not only stand up well against previous iterations of the England team either; the Three Lions boast a more consistent record of reaching the latter stages of major tournaments than any other European nation over the last six years.

Is Gareth Southgate's England legacy on the line on Sunday?

Euro 2024 has seen England reach a final on foreign soil for the first time ever, while Southgate alone has won more knockout games in major tournaments than every other England manager since 1966 combined.

The common counter-argument to that list of achievements is that Southgate should have done even better, and that comparisons to past England runs do not always take into account the quality of the opposition those teams faced.

Other metrics are slightly harder to quantify, such as the cautiousness with which the Three Lions have played at key moments, and a lack proactive substitutions at times, Wednesday's semi-final aside. Some supporters will never truly be won over even with victory on Sunday.

There is certainly merit to some of those arguments, and the stats do back up the claim that England have had easier knockout passages through to the semi-finals and final under Southgate than under previous managers.

However, you can also only beat what is put in front of you and there are plenty of FIFA rankings-based statistics which suggest that England's overall runs have not been particularly more favourable than those in previous years.

Have England really had it easy in major tournaments under Southgate?

The 2018 World Cup saw England face teams with an average ranking of 18th - the same as the 1998 and 2010 World Cups, and harder than tournaments in 1996, 2004, 2006, 2012 and 2016; of those, only in 1996 did England make it as far as in 2018 (semi-finals).

At Euro 2020, England made it to the final for the first time since 1966 despite facing on average tougher opposition than in 2004 (quarter-finals), 2006 (quarter-finals), 2012 (quarter-finals) and 2016 (round of 16).

At the 2022 World Cup - England's worst performance in a major tournament under Southgate - their opponents had an average rank of 17th.

This summer has admittedly seen England face one of their easiest runs yet - only the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2016 have seen a lower average ranking of opponent since 1992 - but the latter of those in particular can serve as a reminder of how facing supposedly lesser opposition at major tournaments is no guarantee of success.

From nightmare to knighthood, from 'How can he stay?' to 'How could he leave?'

England were seconds away from writing a similar chapter to that Iceland debacle in this summer's tournament, with defeat to Slovakia set to go down alongside that match and the 1-0 loss to USA in 1950 as England's worst results at major tournaments, before Bellingham's brilliance saved Southgate.

That close call also highlights the thin line between glory and failure at such tournaments heading into Sunday's match, which could well be a make or break one for Southgate's legacy.

Defeat would leave another huge 'What if?' hanging over his tenure, whereas victory would complete the U-turn in narrative from people asking 'How can he stay?' to instead asking 'How could he leave?'

Having been one kick away from a nightmare tournament, Southgate now finds himself in line for a knighthood - reports have suggested that he will become Sir Gareth regardless of Sunday's result.

Considering he was targeted by angry fans throwing beer cups at him just a couple of weeks ago, that is a remarkable in-tournament turnaround from pariah to national treasure once more, and would be recognition of him having achieved something that no-one else has managed in charge of the England men's team before - reaching two finals.

Southgate is, once again, 'the one'.

If he does leave after the Euros then the true appreciation is likely to come after a step back; he has not necessarily changed the expectation of England going into major tournaments - that has always been there - but he has changed what the supporters regard as success on the biggest stage.

Only Spain separate England from immortality

At the risk of undermining all previously-provided FIFA ranking-based stats, Spain are 'only' placed eighth in the world as things stand - one below England's vanquished semi-final opponents Netherlands and three beneath the Three Lions themselves.

However, there is little doubt that La Roja will be the toughest test yet for Southgate's side; that arguably should be the case in a final, but the reverse is probably not true for Spain.

Luis de la Fuente's side have already seen off three top-10 teams at this summer's tournament - Croatia, defending champions Italy and France - as well as dispatching of hosts Germany, who are rather harshly ranked as only the 16th-best team in the world by FIFA, due largely to their lack of competitive action while everyone else qualified for the Euros.

Of those, only France are ranked above England, but while Spain's overall average ranking of opponent is only one lower than England's over the course of the tournament - 26th to 27th - La Roja's figure is largely skewed by games against 74th-placed Georgia and 66th-placed Albania.

There is no doubt that Spain have faced far more top-level opposition than England, and yet they have still been far more convincing than their opponents on Sunday over the past month.