Memorable matches of Gareth Southgate’s eight-year England tenure so far

Gareth Southgate and England suffered European Championship heartbreak once again on Sunday evening with a second straight defeat in the final.

Spain were 2-1 winners in the Euro 2024 showpiece in Berlin, three years on from Italy’s Euro 2020 triumph on penalties at Wembley.

Here, the PA news agency picks out six memorable matches from Southgate’s eight-year reign so far.

England 1 Croatia 2 (after extra time), World Cup 2018 semi-finals – July 11, 2018

Southgate’s pride was as clear as his heartache after England’s remarkable summer in Russia came to a halt agonisingly short of the World Cup final.

Having followed the penalty triumph against Colombia with a comfortable 2-0 quarter-final victory against Sweden, the country came to a standstill as the team lined up against Croatia looking to keep alive the dream of bringing football home.

Kieran Trippier’s early free-kick put England on course for their first final since 1966, but Southgate’s men were unable to replicate Sir Alf Ramsey’s heroes after Croatia staged a fightback.

Ivan Perisic levelled and Mario Mandzukic secured a 2-1 win in extra time, propelling the country to a first World Cup final as England’s manager wondered what could have been.

Spain 2 England 3, Nations League group stage – October 15, 2018

England won bronze in the inaugural Nations League finals in Portugal in 2019, but it was the result in the group stage just months after their Luzhniki heartache that captured the imagination.

Southgate was proud of his players’ display of courage, bravery and quality as his side stunned Spain in a 3-2 victory.

Raheem Sterling ended his 1,102-day wait for an international goal in style in Seville, where he opened the scoring before netting again once Marcus Rashford had fired home.

It was a breathtaking first half that brought back memories of the 5-1 shellacking of Germany in 2001, but Spain rallied and piled on the pressure after the break as substitute Paco Alcacer pulled one back.

Sergio Ramos grabbed another in stoppage time, but England had done enough to secure victory.

England 2 Germany 0, Euro 2020 last 16 – June 29, 2021

From the 1970 World Cup and ghost goal in 2010 to the Italia 90 and Euro 96 semi-final shoot-out heartbreaks, matches against Germany bring up painful memories.

But England’s players showed few signs of anxiety, nerves or baggage at Wembley as they heeded Southgate’s advice to write their own history as Sterling and Kane struck in a famous 2-0 last-16 win.

The din inside the national stadium belied the 40,000-or-so in attendance due to coronavirus restrictions and Southgate heaped praise on his “immense” players after they secured an historic, morale-boosting victory at the end of England’s biggest match on home soil since their Euro 96 semi-final.

England 1 Italy 1 (Italy win 3-2 on penalties), Euro 2020 final – July 11, 2021

England reached just their second major tournament final after following up the win over Germany by beating Ukraine and Denmark.

But the long wait for a major trophy went on after Southgate’s side saw their Euro 2020 dreams end in a penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy.

Luke Shaw’s early goal at a rocking Wembley had fans dreaming that football would be coming home rather than going to Rome.

But Italy wrested control of the final and deservedly levelled through Leonardo Bonucci, with the match going to extra time and on to spot-kicks after it ended 1-1.

Jordan Pickford denied Andrea Belotti and Jorginho, but Rashford hit the post before fellow substitutes Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were denied as Italy won the shootout 3-2.

England 0 Hungary 4, Nations League group stage – June 14, 2022

The first time Southgate faced mass criticism inside a stadium came at Molineux as Hungary doled out a shock thrashing.

A Roland Sallai brace had the visitors deservedly ahead as a long-range Zsolt Nagy effort secured the win before John Stones was sent off in the second half and Daniel Gazdag’s goal added the gloss.

The 4-0 reverse was a second loss to Hungary in 10 days and was England’s worst home defeat since 1928 with Southgate jeered for much of the second half as chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing” rang around the stands.

England went on to be relegated to League B of the Nations League, failing to win any of their six games in a group that also contained Italy and Germany.

Southgate labelled it a “chastening night” as the nation’s backing, which he had largely enjoyed since the 2018 World Cup, wavered in the West Midlands.

England 2 Netherlands 1, Euro 2024 semi-final – July 10, 2024

Questions over Southgate’s approach surfaced again following a poor start to Euro 2024 in Germany.

Southgate’s side drew group games against Denmark and Slovenia before beating Slovakia in extra time, followed by a shoot-out win over Switzerland.

That led England to a semi-final against the Netherlands in Dortmund and, for the first half at least, they came to life despite conceding to an early Xavi Simons strike.

Kane equalised after winning and converting a controversial penalty before Ollie Watkins scored with a last-gasp strike to secure England’s first semi-final win on foreign soil and a spot in back-to-back European Championship finals.