MARCEL MBAMALU
Scintillating Record
On Sunday, 14 July, Spain beat England 2-1 to lift a record 4th European football championship title. Spain reached this height after outclassing England on all ‘positive’ statistical counts (goal tally, 2-1; possession, 63%-37%; shots on target 5-3, shots off target, 5-2; corner kicks (10-2); Throw-ins, 21-11; crosses, 19-8; and pass accuracy, 89.7%-77.0% 489/545 -229/294 passes). For the yellow cards (3-1), goal kicks (11-6), and fouls (5-11), England, with the scores on the right, were ‘better’.
Spain set other records such as winning the most matches (seven) and scoring the most goals (15) in a European tournament, overtaking France’s 1984 tally of 14 goals. France also set the previous record of five wins in 1984, after the group stages were introduced in 1980.
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England will wait until they answer the big questions
After England’s night of disappointment at the Euro final, they are now looking towards the FIFA World Cup in 2026, when it will be six decades since the country last won anything on the international stage. It doesn’t just have to be about England alone, but the country is such a soccer nation to wait this long, when countries like Greece, Denmark and the defunct Czechoslovakia have made it big on the international stage. Without winning on the big stage, England still leave doubts about the quality of the Three Lions (as the team is known over time).
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Spain won all their seven games from the group stages to the trophy, setting a new record and also finishing as the undisputed best team. Spain’s victory was remarkable because they went through the toughest path to the trophy. They were the only team to top their group, with maximum nine points, conceding no goals. In the knockout stages, they downed Germany, France and England, all of them former winners (except England) as well as within the best 10 ranked teams. Again, France had eliminated Portugal before France itself was eliminated by Spain. And here lies the real issue for England. England must prove that it can win against the big boys. This is what stands in their way to date.
The Telling Numbers
Since 1966 when England won the World Cup, their only senior trophy since then, the team has only played six teams that are within the world’s best 10, namely, Germany, Portugal, France, Italy, Netherlands, and Belgium. That is, for both the FIFA World Cup and the Euros (Tables 1 & 2). In fact, the final against Spain on Sunday was England’s 45th game in their Euro history, the highest by any country that has not won it. Belgium comes in second at 26 games without glory.
England faced tougher tests at the Euro group stages in 2000 and 2004. In 2000, they faced Germany, Romania and Portugal, but did not survive the group stages (Table 3).
In 2004, they faced France, Croatia and Switzerland, and finished second at the group stages, only to lose at the next stage (quarter final) to Portugal.
Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland are the other teams within the best 20 teams globally played by England since 1980. Within this time, England failed to make it through the group stages on four occasions in the Euro (Table 3).
Successively in 2020 and 2024, they were runners up (Table 1). In the other three occasions, they were beaten by teams that were within the best 10 (Portugal, Italy and Spain), except Iceland in 2016.
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In the World Cup, England have played in 10 editions since 1982, and crashed out at the group stages once, and reached the semis twice. On nine occasions when they pulled through the group stages, they lost to teams within the best 10 in the world (Table 2). In the 2018 World Cup, England played Colombia and Sweden respectively in the round of 16 and quarter final, only to fall at the semis to a rampant Croatia (Table 4).
In 2022, they played Senegal in the round of 16, and fell to France in the quarter final (Table 4). Then at Euro 2024, England topped their group with 5 points (consisting of Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia), and played Slovakia, Switzerland and Netherlands in the round of 16, quarter final and semifinal respectively. Again, a team in the top 10, Spain, was insurmountable at last (Table 3).
While Netherlands are in the top 10 as of 2024, England needed dying minute goals to prevail in all three knockout games against Slovakia, Switzerland and Netherlands, even benefitting from a 95th wonder goal from Jude Bellingham to equal 1-1 with Slovakia at the round of 16 before prevailing 2-1 in extra time. England drew with both Denmark and Slovenia at the group stages.
Yes, you must beat the best to win a major trophy. Yet, Spain could have gone away with much accolades even if they had lost to England in the final. Why? Spain overcame some of the best on the way when compared to England en route to the final. Perhaps, England need the luck of encountering stronger teams early to grow the toughness needed to conquer at last.
Dr Mbamalu, a Jefferson Fellow and Member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), is a Publisher and Communications/Media Consultant. His extensive research works on Renewable Energy and Health Communication are published in several international journals, including SAGE.
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Dr. Marcel Mbamalu is a distinguished communication scholar, journalist, and entrepreneur with three decades of experience in the media industry. He holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and serves as the publisher of Prime Business Africa, a renowned multimedia news platform catering to Nigeria and Africa's socio-economic needs.
Dr. Mbamalu's journalism career spans over two decades, during which he honed his skills at The Guardian Newspaper, rising to the position of senior editor. Notably, between 2018 and 2023, he collaborated with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Northeast Nigeria, training senior journalists on conflict reporting and health journalism.
Dr. Mbamalu's expertise has earned him international recognition. He was the sole African representative at the 2023 Jefferson Fellowship program, participating in a study tour of the United States and Asia (Japan and Hong Kong) on inclusion, income gaps, and migration issues.
In 2020, he was part of a global media team that covered the United States presidential election.
Dr. Mbamalu has attended prestigious media trainings, including the Bloomberg Financial Journalism Training and the Reuters/AfDB Training on "Effective Coverage of Infrastructural Development in Africa."
As a columnist for The Punch Newspaper, with insightful articles published in other prominent Nigerian dailies, including ThisDay, Leadership, The Sun, and The Guardian, Dr. Mbamalu regularly provides in-depth analysis on socio-political and economic issues.
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