Football isn't coming home - and Gareth Southgate must take some of the blame: Winners and losers as Three Lions come up short again in Euro 2024 final as sublime Spain strike a victory for football fans everywhere

For 45 minutes, it appeared as if Spain's sensational wingers could actually be stopped. As it transpired, Kyle Walker and Luke Shaw had merely postponed the inevitable.

Yamal and Williams ran riot in the second half in Berlin, with the pair combining to break the deadlock just after the interval. They continued to create havoc thereafter and, if we're being critical, they probably should have scored another goal between them. But this most dynamic of duos were a joy to watch, just as they have been throughout the tournament.

And the best thing about Williams and Yamal is that they're both so young, they're only going to get better - which is such an exciting prospect for Spain (and us neutrals!), but a terrifying thought for full-backs all over the world.

The England captain was never going to be dropped for the final, but it was always unlikely that Kane would rediscover his top form against the best side at the tournament. As such, he predictably had another miserable evening.

He touched the ball just 13 times, and one of those led to him being booked for a foul. He had just one shot, which was quickly blocked by Rodri, while his only positive contributions were in his own area, when he made a useful block.

BBC pundit and former England women's international Alex Scott called for Kane to be hauled off at half-time, and that would have been a good call. Southgate eventually got him off on the hour-mark, which was the earliest he has taken Kane off at the tournament, and when he was replaced, England finally came alive.

Kane fronted up and did his interviews, putting on a brave face post-match. But he must be truly gutted. He has now lost two finals as England captain and is still yet to win a single trophy for club or country. Bizarrely, though, he will share the Golden Boot as joint-top scorer with five other players.

It's incredible to think about it now, but in March of last year, there were serious doubts in Spain over whether Luis de la Fuente was the right man to lead the national team, after a dismal 2-0 loss to Scotland in Glasgow.

However, La Roja haven't lost a competitive fixture since, winning the Nations League in the Netherlands before pulling off a thrilling Euro 2024 triumph in which they won every single game, beating the likes of Italy, Germany, France and England along the way.

De la Fuente is the main reason why. Granted, he has exceptional talent at his disposal, but the manager deserves so much credit for two reasons: putting his faith in youth, and instructing his players to take the game to every single team that had the misfortune to come up against them. As we saw at these Euros, such bravery is uncommon among international coaches.

For that reason, the game owes De la Fuente a huge debt of gratitude. From facing the sack to saving football in just over a year - not bad at all!

Southgate has had two opportunities to end England's long, long wait for a trophy. He deserves a lot of credit for getting the team there and for changing the culture of the national team. But he will ultimately be remembered as the man that got to two finals and lost them both.

England should not be as distraught about this defeat as the Euro 2020 final loss to Italy on penalties. Spain were the better team both on paper and on the night. But once again, Southgate's in-game tactics left a lot to be desired. As in the previous matches, he only made changes when his team went behind, and England only started to ask serious questions of Spain after conceding.

Once Palmer had got England on level terms, they reverted to type, sitting back, allowing Spain to have the ball. They had extra-time on their minds. Southgate, in the end, was punished for being reactive and not proactive. The four crucial matches he has lost at major tournaments all have one common denominator: England had less of the ball than their opponents.

In the crunch moments, when he had to go for it, he once again lacked the necessary courage. This is likely to be his last act as England manager, even though the FA are said to want him to continue in the job. They might believe he could make it third time lucky. But even considering the huge progress he has made in his eight years in charge, that would seem like wishful thinking.

It was quite rightly pointed out throughout the Euros that England were a 'moments team', a side that never played well but still managed to find a way to win thanks to a crucial contribution from one of their top players. However, Spain possessed that killer quality too, as the final hammered home. They weren't just the better team from start to finish, certain individuals also stepped up when required.

Just as Mikel Merino had done against Germany, Mikel Oyarzabal came off the bench to score the winner, before Dani Olmo effectively sealed victory for Spain with a huge goal-line clearance, which was followed by a fittingly passionate celebration.

It would also be remiss of us not to mention Marc Cucurella, who arrived in Germany on the back of two underwhelming seasons at Chelsea but capped a fantastic campaign by whipping over the cross that decided the final.

Basically, this was a Spain squad made up of individual game-changers, which made them impossible to beat.

Had England won, then Bellingham would have been at the front of the queue for the Ballon d'Or. No one would have been able to compete with the dominant player in La Liga, who had lifted the Champions League and then ended his country's long wait for tournament glory by scoring crucial goals along the way.

But falling short here means the boy from Birmingham will probably just miss out on the ultimate individual prize. He will have plenty more opportunities, but will he get a better chance than this, having had the dream debut season with Real Madrid?

Bellingham did not have his best night in Berlin, but he was still in the thick of the action for England, laying the ball off for Palmer's goal and lashing the ball wide from outside the box. His tournament has, however, been about two moments of brilliance and he has struggled for consistency, understandably after such a draining season.

Now he looks set to miss out on the Ballon d'Or, likely to Rodri, who was named the Player of the Tournament despite having to come off injured at half-time.

Palmer played just 29 minutes across the semi and final, but had a goal and assist to show for it, a sign of the incredible impact he can make when given just a few moments to shine. Ollie Watkins was the first change England had made but 'Cold' Palmer was the player everyone wanted to see come on.

And with ice in his veins as usual, the Chelsea star resuscitated England with a deft shot from the edge of the area, albeit benefitting from a small deflection. Yet again, Palmer lifted up an uninspiring England and gave them hope. It's such a shame he was given such little time on the pitch.

He must be wondering what he must do to earn a regular starting berth in this England team. He was one of the players of the season in the Premier League and impressed in the tournament warm-up games. But he didn't start a single game, getting a grand total of 115 minutes from the bench.

He looked a real threat in his cameo against Slovenia, played a part in Kane's winner against Slovakia, scored in the shootout against Switzerland and then contributed to goals in the the last two games. He deserves far more, and when England visit Ireland in their next international in September, he has to be in the starting XI.

The song 'Three Lions' has been the soundtrack of every tournament England have played at since Euro 1996. It featured the line '30 years of hurt', referring to how long it had been since England had last won a major trophy.

By the next time they play in a major tournament, there will be a longer gap between the recording of that smash hit single and the 1966 World Cup, and still England will have no trophy to show for it. Thirty years of hurt will soon become 60 years of agony.

England have made huge strides in the last eight years, reaching a World Cup semi-final and two European Championship finals. But the result is the same: no glory and eternal hurt.

Football's not coming home - any maybe that's not a bad thing. England may have several admirable attributes, but an attractive style of play isn't one of them. Southgate's side were almost unwatchable for the majority of the tournament, as only France proved a bigger waste of world-class talent.

So, it was something of a miracle that England even made it to the final, with a seriously favourable draw playing a bigger role in their progression than anything their mediocre manager did from a tactical perspective. And yet there was a very real fear that they might somehow defeat a vastly superior Spain side, thanks to a strong defence and super-subs.

La Roja, though, are as resilient as they are talented, and they simply would not be denied, which is just such a boost for those of us that like to see teams rewarded for taking risks. After a tournament that produced far too many boring games because of painfully negative tactics, De la Fuente and his team sent a message to the likes of Southgate and Didier Deschamps that entertaining football can also be successful.

England can obviously be commended for their fighting spirit, but Sunday wasn't just a victory for Spain, it was a victory for football. Courage had triumphed over conservatism.