Penalty shootout heartbreak for England as Italy win Euro 2020

Italy are the European champions after they beat England 3-2 on penalties in the Euro 2020 final at the Wembley Stadium (1-1 AET). 

There was heartbreak for England as their hopes of winning their first major tournament in 55 years were crushed by Italy after a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the Euro 2020 final.

England will be left wondering what could have been had they held on after scoring the opener early on. The Three Lions made the dream start to the game, taking the lead in just the second minute through a gorgeous volley from Luke Shaw.

But they allowed Italy to wrestle back control of the game after that. And the Azzurri were rewarded for their sustained pressure midway through the second half when Leonardo Bonucci turned the ball into the net from close range after a goalmouth scramble inside the box.

Italy continued to apply the pressure but neither side was able to find a winner. The game went to extra time, where both teams had half chances to score. But the score stayed at 1-1, and so a penalty shoot-out was needed to decide the Euro 2020 winner.

A thrilling and topsy-turvy penalty shoot-out followed, and it saw Italy come out on top by the narrowest of margins as they won 3-2.

Jordan Pickford made a good save to deny Andrea Belotti and give England the lead early in the shoot-out. But missed penalties from Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka proved to be costly for Gareth Southgate’s side, as Italy were crowned champions of Europe for the first time since 1968.