The top 10 facts and stats you need to know ahead of the Euro 2024 Final
By Ben Gray
The exuberance of youth
As you may have been made aware, Lamine Yamal is only 16 years old, well not for much longer anyway, given that he'll celebrate his 17th birthday on Saturday, the day before the final. His wonder strike against France makes him the youngest player to score at a World Cup or Euros, breaking Pelé's record, by 243 days, that had stood since 1958. In terms of Euros specifically, the previous record-holder was Johan Vonlanthen who, at the age of 18 years and 141 days, was on target in Coimbra for Switzerland against France in 2004, himself breaking a record that Wayne Rooney had set against the Swiss just four days earlier.
At the other end of the expirence scale, it would be quite the story if Jesús Navas ended Sunday night with a winners medal, after he became the oldest outfielder to feature in a World Cup or Euros semi-final on Tuesday. At the age of 38 years 231 days, he smashed the previous record jointly held by Gunnar Gren and Fritz Walter (37 years 236 days) who, mind-blowingly, faced each-other when Sweden took on Germany in the 1958 World Cup, having both been born on 31 October 1920. Back to Navas, he was part of the Spain squad that won the World Cup in 2010, eight of which are younger than him, including David Silva, Gerard Piqué, Cesc Fàbregas and Juan Mata who've all retired. Lastly, to drive home the point about Navas' longevity, he started the 2006 UEFA Cup Final as Sevilla beat Middlesbrough 4-0, with none other than Gareth Southgate captaining Boro in Eindhoven that night.
On the other side, England have a young sensation of their own. Kobbie Mainoo is the unsung hero of England's run to the final, coming into the team for the knockout stages, steading the ship following the failed Trent Alexander-Arnold experiment. By starting against the Netherlands, he is the youngest player to feature for England in a major tournament semi-final, doing so at the age of 19 years and 82 days old, breaking the record set by Bukayo Saka three summers ago.
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