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Spain And Argentina Emerge Victorious

Spain and Argentina are the champions of their continents after both nations won their finals on Sunday.

Spain overcame England 2-1 in Berlin to win their first European Championship since 2012, while Argentina triumphed over Colombia, 1-0 after extra time.

Spain, who have been majestic throughout the tournament in Germany, were the better team for much of their encounter against England and took the lead when Nico Williams beat Jordan Pickford with a low finish after collecting a pass from the 16-year-old Lamine Yamal two minutes after half-time.

Cole Palmer leveled for England on 73 minutes with a low left-footed finish into the bottom corner.

With four minutes of normal time remaining, Mikel Oyarzabal slid home Marc Cucurella’s cross to send the Spain fans into raptures.

Declan Rice and Marc Guehi both saw headers cleared off the line in the closing moments but a draw and extra time would have benefited England.

Argentina won a record 16th title and retained their crown thanks to Lautaro Martinez’s 112th minute goal at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

The match was marred by crowd disturbances before the match, with fans appearing to breach the security gates, bypassing police officers and some even climbing through air vents. It isn’t clear which fans who gained entrance during the rush had tickets to the final.

The match got underway more than an hour and 15 minutes late. It was an entertaining encounter which was decided by a clinical Martinez finish, but not before Lionel Messi had left the field in tears after picking up an ankle injury in the second-half.

The Inter Miami star nonetheless returned to lift an international trophy for the third time in a row after failing to win one with the senior side until 2021.

/Stewart
Sports news editor