Euro 2024 news: Jude Bellingham 'may need surgery' as Spain kickstart England mind games

That's all we've got time for tonight

Thanks for joining us to follow the latest Euro 2024 news as we continue to look ahead to Sunday's final.

We'll be back in the morning for more of the same. Catch you then!

The FA are reportedly set to try and convince Gareth Southgate to stay on as England manager regardless of whether or not they win the Euros.

According to The Mirror, the governing body is convinced that Southgate is the right man to lead England into the next World Cup cycle.

The 53-year-old is only tied down until December and until now there has been an expectation that he will amicably step down when his current deal runs out.

Tesco have announced that more than 1,800 stores will close at 7.30pm instead of the usual 10pm or 11pm on Sunday.

This will allow employees to watch England take on Spain in the final of Euro 2024, which kicks off at 8pm.

Tesco’s managing director of UK stores, Kevin Tindall, said: "We appreciate just how much this would mean to so many of our colleagues and we want them to be able to celebrate with their family and friends.

"We will close our stores across England in time for them to get behind Gareth Southgate and the team, and we’ll all be hoping that football will be coming home."

Another supermarket has made a similar move, with Lidl stores opening an hour later on Monday morning to allow workers to enjoy the post-match celebrations if England win.

Jude Bellingham could require surgery in the coming weeks after playing through a shoulder injury at the Euros, according to AS.

The England ace dislocated his shoulder in November and has reportedly been taking painkillers to cope with the after effects.

Real Madrid's head scout Juni Calafat attended Wednesday's semi-final and was said to have spoken with Bellingham after the game.

The Spanish giants believe he is playing 'at his limit' and would prefer him to avoid going under the knife ahead of the new La Liga season.

A group of mystic meerkats at a Sussex zoo have predicted that England will beat Spain on Sunday.

The meerkats at Drusillas Park near Eastbourne have correctly called the outcome of every England game at the Euros so far.

A spokesperson for the zoo told Sussex World: "The special method involves two buckets of nuts, peas, and sweetcorn, each with a team's flag on.

"The buckets are placed down before the meerkats are released and left to choose which bucket they would prefer to eat from.

"The bucket surrounded by the most meerkats is then declared the predicted winner."

England icon Sir Geoff Hurst has urged Sir Keir Starmer to announce a celebratory bank holiday if the Three Lions win the Euros on Sunday.

Speaking with Budweiser, he said: "It’s a real honour to be a part of football history once more by leading the campaign for a bank holiday so that everyone can make the most of the win, if and when it happens.

"Thanks to the dedication of the team and unwavering support from England’s fans, we’re very close to victory.

"It’s about time we have something to celebrate as a nation, and a bank holiday would make a win even more special for millions of supporters across the country."

Emmanuel Petit has launched a scathing attack on Kylian Mbappe in the wake of France's defeat to Spain in the semi-finals.

"For me he is not a good captain with the signals he has sent," Petit told RMC Sport.

"In his leadership, his statements to his colleagues too, when he says: 'I don't have good balls, no Pogba in my team, Griezmann is not having a good Euro'.

"Is it the role of a captain to point out the shortcomings of his teammates? He has not been good in that.

"And then, excuse me, but all the fuss about the mask or not after his broken nose. We don't care! You're not the first to play with a broken nose, you won't be the last. 

"After that, it's not his fault. But where I have trouble is that he claimed a lot of things to get this armband, and for me he didn't have the leadership on the field or off it.

"For me, he was an unworthy captain."

Bookies could lose 'tens of millions' of pounds if England bring football home by beating Spain on Sunday.

William Hill said England were heavily backed on its platform as pre-tournament favourites at odds of 4/1.

A spokesperson for the betting firm said: "An England win would cost us deep into seven figures.

"Though it would be great for football to finally come home, it looks set to cost the UK betting industry well into the tens of millions of pounds.

"We’re expecting to see historically high turnover on Sunday, and with a lot of that money set to rest on the Three Lions’ shoulders, it will be very expensive."

England Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman says that country should be ‘proud’ of how far they have come in Euro 2024.

Despite being Dutch, Wiegman lauded Gareth Southgate’s side, saying: “We all know football worldwide is the biggest sport. In England, it’s on a different level. Since I came in and worked here, [I've seen that] it’s so in society and so deep where the support is. It’s incredible. I never take it for granted.

"The whole country should be very proud. It’s not easy. We’ve seen that too. It’s good to be English at the moment in football."

Keir Starmer has hinted that workers will get an extra Bank Holiday if England are victorious in the Euro 2024 final.

The Prime Minister was reluctant to divulge into details about what would happen if Gareth Southgate’s side beat Spain, saying: “We should certainly mark the occasion, I don’t want to jinx it. I went to the last Euros final, I don’t want to go through that again.

“I don’t want to jinx anything but we must mark it in some way. But the most important thing is getting it over the line on Sunday.”

England supporters’ celebrations last night led some fans too… chanting around a bus.

The No. 47 bus to Bellingham was the target of a large group of Three Lions fans, who saw the link with the public transport and midfield maestro Jude Bellingham.

With supporters in the road, the bus was forced to break to a halt whilst fans took photos and sung about the Real Madrid playmaker.

Teddy Sheringham has admitted that England were fortunate to receive a penalty in the first half of their Euro 2024 win against the Netherlands.

Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to have fouled Harry Kane while attempting to block his shot following a surprise VAR review.

And the England captain fired home from the spot, levelling the game before Ollie Watkins' last-gasp winner.

"Well, back in my day, someone could have thrown themselves from 10 yards away when you're having a shot, and it caught you in a much worse problem," Sheringham told Express Sport on behalf of Online Poker.

"But because they were defending a goalscoring opportunity, it was allowed, it was expected. But if you put it the other way, if you analyse the situation, if that happened anywhere else on the pitch, that would be a foul nowadays. So if that's the case, then it's a penalty.

"I'm sure if the Dutch had been given a penalty like that we'd have all been fuming, but, you know, it is what it is. The game is changing, and they're trying to outlaw that late challenge coming in. We got lucky."

Giorgio Chiellini has blamed Stefan de Vrij for the Netherlands defeat to England.

The Inter Milan defender failed to block Ollie Watkins from firing at goal late on, with the Aston Villa star’s strike going through his legs before nestling into the far corner.

Chiellini believes that De Vrij should have done better to prevent the England star from getting his shot away, telling Sky Sports Italia: “Small details make the difference. Watkins’ move was correct, but he was directed towards the corner flag. He wasn’t dangerous.

“The only thing that a defender must not do is try to get the ball. Covering the space towards the far post allows the goalkeeper to make an easy save. You don’t need to intercept the ball because if it goes between your legs.

“It was an avoidable goal, and I am sorry because Stefan is an excellent defender, and he played so well in this tournament. However, the difference between winning and losing, lifting and not lifting a trophy, is often down to these small details.”

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has kickstarted his mind games ahead of the Euro 2024 final, talking up England's chances in the match.

Speaking after the Three Lions progressed past the Netherlands, De La Fuente said: "Before starting the tournament, England and France would have been favourites, as well as Germany for the fact they were playing at home. We have had the chance to keep overcoming those games [against the favourites] and now we have another huge match. Maybe Spain have offered a better version so far at the finals [than England], but that won't have any influence on a one-off game.

"England have quality players that can appear at any moment. We are up against a really powerful side full of experience, not just in terms of the national team, but at club level as well. It's going to be tough. But we're looking forward to this one. We want to keep growing. This group of players are going to keep fighting to try and win the trophy."

UEFA have confirmed that François Letexier will be referee the Euro 2024 final between Spain and France.

The 35-year-old has officiated three matches in Germany so far, including Spain’s 4-1 victory over Georgia in the round of 16.

The Frenchman was also the fourth official for the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund last season.

Full refereeing team

Referee: François Letexier (France)

Assistants: Cyril Mugnier, Mehdi Rahmouni (both France)

4th Official: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

Reserve Assistant Referee: Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland)

Video Assistant Referee: Jérôme Brisard (France)

VAR Assistant: Willy Delajod (France)

VAR Support: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy)

Gareth Southgate has revealed that Spain’s extra day of rest is a ‘concern’ for England ahead of the Euro 2024 final.

Spain battled to a 2-1 victory over France on Tuesday night and will therefore have an additional 24 hours to recover from their intense clash before heading to Berlin on Sunday – which Southgate believes is advantageous.

Speaking after his side’s victory over the Netherlands on Wednesday, he said: “It's not as simple as us having the ball and making them run. They press very, very well so we're going to have to be exceptional with the ball and we're going to have to be exceptional without it. It's a final so you expect it to be that way. They've been the best team. We're starting to show a better version of ourselves.

"The extra day [of rest for Spain] is a concern, in the last few tournaments that's been a problem for finalists. We've got to do the very best we can to recover the players as well as we can. We're not going to be on the training ground, that's simple. We'll be walking through things or delivering things in meetings, it was the same for this game, but we're in there and with what we've shown to this point, we have as good a chance as they do."

England’s sensational win in the semi-finals of Euro 2024 has seen supporters head into work this morning with a spring in their step.

However, the Three Lions equalising goal has been marred in controversy. Harry Kane slotted his penalty past Bart Verbruggen to level the tie after referee Felix Zwayer had surprisingly pointed to the spot following a VAR review.

The England skipper had fired a strike over the bar from inside the penalty area before colliding with right-back Denzel Dumfries, who had raised his foot in an attempt to block the shot. Kane appeared to kick the foot of the Dutch defender, though some believe that it was clumsy from the Inter Milan star to raise his leg in the scenario.

The Netherlands were left furious by the decision – and footage of Bukayo Saka potentially handling the ball in the build-up to the incident will only add fuel to the fire. But was regeree Zwayer’s decision to point to the spot the correct call? Have your say below…

Virgil van Dijk claimed that an interviewer was ‘trying to get him in trouble’ with his line of questioning following the Netherlands’ 2-1 defeat at the hands of England.

UEFA’s appointment of Felix Zwayer for the semi-final clash raised eyebrows earlier this week due to his controversial past, which saw him suspended for six months in 2005 after taking a £250 bribe from colleague Robert Hoyzer.

The German’s match-fixing controversy was then brought up to Van Dijk after the match, with the Liverpool defender being asked about how he felt about the appointment.

The ex-Southampton star was in no mood to discuss the matter though, telling Hayters TV: "What do you want? Do you want to get me in trouble here?

"Yeah, well, he did our game against Romania and he was alright, so you don't want to get me in trouble. That's for you guys."

Read more here

Dutch legend Pierre van Hooijdonk has called for UEFA to ‘blacklist’ referee Felix Zwayer following his performance in England’s victory over the Netherlands.

The 54-year-old felt that the German official was ‘terrible’ and, again, was among those to question why Harry Kane was awarded a penalty.

Speaking after the match, Van Hooijdonk fumed: “They can thank Felix Zwayer. He really needs to be blacklisted. Terrible. Also in the second half... A duel with Cody Gakpo where he simply blew his whistle again, ten meters from the linesman. Those are moments that were crucial in this match.

"We can talk about it at length, but if you're going to award a penalty for this. Then you could end up with eight of them on the spot in the final. Really terrible."

Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk felt that referee Felix Zwayer should have conducted a post-match interview to explain why he awarded England a penalty in the first half.

The Liverpool skipper was left furious by the decision and felt that the German official was quick to walk down the tunnel after he had sounded the full-time whistle.

Van Dijk said:”I don't know if I should say something about this, but I said it outside to our Dutch media. I think it says it all that the referee went in quite quickly after the game. We had no time to shake his hand, but it is what it is.

"They keep changing certain things, making small changes that could have big impacts. But maybe it would be a good thing that they could be held accountable, let them come here and speak to you guys and explain themselves like we have to explain ourselves when we do something wrong."

England’s equalising penalty against the Netherlands has caused plenty of controversy due to the nature of the collision, but some eagle-eyed viewers have spotted a moment immediately before the challenge that would've handed the Dutch a free-kick instead.

With England trailing 1-0, referee Felix Zwayer surprisingly pointed to the spot after being instructed to review Dumfries’ challenge on Kane after the Bayern Munich striker fired over the bar.

The ball fell into the direction of Kane after Bukayo Saka had weaved his way into the penalty area off of the right, with his initial shot being blocked by Tijjani Reijnders.

The ball then deflected to Kane, but footage appears to suggest that Saka actually handled the ball just seconds before his teammate was wiped out. Some viewers are unconvinced by the camera angle though.

Read more here

Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman feels that football is being ‘destroyed’ by VAR.

The Dutchman did not feel that Denzel Dumfries’ challenge on Harry Kane should’ve seen England awarded a penalty, though he was keen to insist that the decision did not cost his team overall.

Speaking after the game, Koeman said: “This is not a penalty. His only intention was to block a shot. Harry Kane then shoots and their feet collide. Football is getting destroyed by these type of decisions by VAR. This penalty would not have been given in England.

"What should you do as a defender? I thought the referee whistled for a lot of silly things, but that's not why we lose."