On July 11th, England defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the European Championship semi-finals to reach the final. England became the third team in European Championship history to reach the final immediately after losing the previous final. The previous two runners-up in the previous tournament both went on to win the title.
In the last European Championship, England reached the final after overcoming many obstacles, but lost to Italy on penalties and finished as runners-up. In this tournament, England did not perform well in the group stage, winning only one game and drawing two, but still finished top of the group with 5 points. In the knockout stages, they faced Slovakia, Switzerland and the Netherlands, all of whom they overcame after conceding first. Having re-grouped after the disappointment of last year’s final, England has reached the final once again and will be looking to take revenge on their opponents.
This is only the third time in history that a team has reached the final immediately after losing the previous one, and both previous occasions were achieved by Germany. In the 1976 European Championship final, West Germany (predecessor of Germany) lost to Czechoslovakia in a penalty shootout and finished as runners-up. In the 1980 European Championship final, West Germany beat Belgium 2-1 and became champions.
In the 1992 European Championship final, Germany lost to Denmark 0-2. In the following 1996 European Championship final, Germany defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 and lifted the trophy.
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