“The best team won” - England star who didn’t make Euro 2024 squad reacts to crushing Spain defeat

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire shared a message on X (formerly Twitter) following England's Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain on Sunday (July 14). It was La Roja who emerged victorious by a 2-1 scoreline after playing the better football on the night.

Spain opened the scoring in the second half through Nico Williams (47'), after which The Three Lions equalized in the 73rd minute thanks to Cole Palmer's good finish. However, it wasn't enough to take the game into extra time, as Mikel Oyarzabal found his team a winner four minutes from time.

This defeat marked consecutive losses for England in the final of the European Championships after they lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy on penalties. Maguire, who couldn't make the trip to Germany as he failed to recover from injury wrote on X after the final:

"I'm gutted. We will go again. Congratulations to Spain, the best team won. You've been brilliant to watch all tournament."

While Spain were wonderful in this European campaign, England's football left question marks on the faces of several viewers. Their lack of attacking threat has come under fire, and manager Gareth Southgate has had to face the brunt of the criticism.

Luckily, there weren't too many issues defensively even with Maguire missing. He would've been expected to pair Manchester City's John Stones in the central defense had he returned on time.

However, Crystal Palace center-back Marc Guehi stepped in and did reasonably well for The Three Lions.

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Chris Sutton reacts to England's Euro 2024 final loss to Spain

Gareth Southgate

BBC pundit Chris Sutton seemingly hinted at the fact that Spain were the better team in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday (July 14) as England succumbed to a 2-1 defeat.

La Roja had more of the possession (66%) and took 16 shots on the night, compared to The Three Lions' nine efforts. After the match, Sutton said (via BBC Sport):

"It's a good thing for football that Spain won the tournament with the brand they have played. Spain played the beautiful game and we didn't- the beauty of Gareth's team has been getting over the line."

"Spain are a team, England are bits and pieces."

Spain were comfortably the best team this year, winning every single one of their Euro 2024 matches. Meanwhile, their opponents played two draws in the group stage and had two knockout matches go into extra time.