Ollie Watkins fired England into their first major tournament final on foreign soil, an inspired change by Gareth Southgate delivering a 2-1 win over the Netherlands that will rank as the greatest since 1966.
After a spluttering, heavy-legged run to the semifinals, England were brilliant, resilient and proactive in overturning Xavi Simons opener to send a nation into rapture. Fortune favored them with a contentious penalty but for once this summer, England put themselves in a position to forge lucky breaks for themselves.
A match between two of Euro 2024's most attritional big teams always felt like it would take something special to get it going. Simons delivered exactly that. A loose clearance put pressure on Declan Rice but a midfielder of his quality could have shone more muscularity or even cynicism to keep the ball from his opponent.
Had one of the English defenders been more live to the danger then Simons' appetite might have been quelled. Instead, the goal opened up invitingly for him, Jordan Pickford only able to get a glove on the thunderous strike.
Yet again England came to life when thrust into a deficit. They had started brightly in Dortmund but hit by far their greatest heights of the tournament so far in pursuing parity. First Kane fizzed at goal from range, Bart Verbruggen doing well to save, before he was the beneficiary of a neat build-up from Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka.
His snapshot over the bar seemed to be where the move ended, the England captain aggrieved by late contact from Denzel Dumfries but most of the view that the Dutch right back was merely competing for the ball. VAR Bastian Dankert and then Felix Zwayer thought differently, however, and Kane drew England level from the spot.
They might have had more. The fearless Phil Foden, at last looking like the player he is in a Manchester City shirt, glided away from Virgil van Djik and Nathan Ake, rolling the ball through Verbruggen's legs only for Dumfries to clear off the line. The Dutch right back would hit the bar with a header off a corner before the half was out, Foden responding moments later with a rasping left-footed drive off the upright.
It seemed like more chances would come for England, dominant in midfield with Kobbie Mainoo driving them on. Ultimately an injury to star forward Memphis Depay came at a fortunate time for Ronald Koeman, who was able to introduce Joey Veerman to plug gaps in midfield that would not appear in the second half.
England stuttered with the Dutch having limited their supply lines through the middle. With 80 minutes playing, you could sense the familiar grumbles of a nation. Southgate, even having brought on Luke Shaw at the interval, had left his changes too late.
Timing hardly mattered when the substitutions worked out as well as they did. Out came Kane and the dwindling Foden, on came Cole Palmer and Watkins to exploit an increasingly stretched match.
Declan Rice's pass up the Dutch gut found the former, who picked out Watkins with his back to goal in the area. Stefan de Vrij could not stop the Aston Villa man spinning him. Verbruggen had no chance at denying a shot that flew inexorably into the bottom corner. The most significant goal England have scored in 58 years? For now, at least.
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A first final on foreign soil for the Three Lions!
Brilliant! Rice carves the Dutch midfield open. Watkins gets the ball in the box, turns brilliantly and fires low at the far corner. Verbruggen can't get a glove on it. It's in the bottom corner. Southgate's change might just have won it!
Excellent defending from Guehi keeps Weghorst from getting the ball after a gorgeous Dutch move cuts through the England press. Both these teams seem to be dreading the prospect of another 30 minutes of football so England are the next to drive forward. A brilliant touch by Shaw kills a crossfield pass dead and his low cross is tantalisingly close to Bellingham. He can't reach it but Palmer can. He senses something special but his fierce shot is high and wide. Two minutes plus added time to go.
But the flag is up! It's really, really tight. Walker cuts the ball back and Saka strikes. The semi-automated offside quickly establishes that, by a fine margin, De Vrij had caught the England right back off.
Meanwhile Southgate has seen enough. Kane and Foden make way. Palmer and Watkins are on.
Without Mainoo driving up the middle -- those avenues have been blocked off by Veerman -- England are really struggling to achieve much so far. What is available to them, as the Dutch lines squeeze higher and closer to each other, is the ball over the top but Bellingham is not really the man you'd want chasing them. Watkins is but for now he remains on the bench. As is often the case with Southgate, you can feel a lingering desire from the English public, at home and in the ground, for earlier substitutions.
The Dutch have been getting on top in this game and they force a free kick in a dangerous area down the right channel. Veerman, whose presence has brought real solidity to the Netherlands midfield, delivers a fizzing free kick that Van Dijk gets to first. The Liverpool center back flings a boot at the ball and his Everton opponent has to be sprightly, not just in saving but parrying from danger.
England's No.4 has had good moments since that big early mistake but he isn't quite the force he looked in his best moments last season. Not for the first time in this game he has just allowed a Dutch midfielder to dart away from him and not been able to keep up. Maybe the sheer weight of football he had last season, 4.274 minutes at club level before every one on offer at the Euros, is weighing him down.
There's changes in the offing from both sides and it's a significant one for England, who introduce Luke Shaw in place of Trippier, giving them a natural left-footed option on that side that they have so needed. It also appears to be a straight shift to a four man defense, Saka pushed up and Bellingham tucked in from the left.
Meanwhile the Dutch are going to be asking very different questions of England with the giant Wout Weghorst coming on for Malen.
Maybe there is still one unresolved issue. It is less of a pronounced problem when so many of the players around him are attacking the box with purpose but Harry Kane continues to occupy deeper roles than England might like from their No.9. Indeed their captain has as many touches in his defensive half as he does in the penalty box (and one of those was the spot kick from which he scored).
It is not as if Kane is doing sterling creative work from that deeper spot, he laid on one shot from Saka but surely Southgate would be happier to have his best finisher in the danger area.
And what a performance by England. Almost every question we had about them coming into the semifinal has been impressively addressed. They showed real mental fortitude after Simons thundered the Dutch into the lead but England were good value for a fortunate penalty. On his 40th cap, Foden has played like Manchester City Foden, maybe for the first time? Mainoo is adding real forward momentum from England. Even Trippier is holding firm at left back. The Dutch could yet cause issues on the break but if you were picking a team to get the winner in the next 45 minutes, it would surely be the Three Lions.
This is a tough one for the Dutch too. Memphis Depay is unable to continue but his exit affords Koeman the opportunity to address a midfield where England are overrunning his side. In comes Veerman and the Dutch immediately shift to something more like a 4-3-3 as opposed to the 4-2-3-1 they started in, Simons and Gakpo flanking Malen in attack.
I'd love to write some detailed analysis of the tactical trends but all the events, all the drama. There's no time to think. The Dutch have been quelled for a little while now but it only takes one ball in Gakpo's direction and England are nervously clearing for a corner. Denzel Dumfries rises highest to meet it, intent on leaving the penalty box with something. All he does is graze the crossbar with his header.
England respond with style. Saka and Mainoo combine and Foden gets the ball in space. He's got Yamal on the brain as he takes his first touch, bending a brilliant left footed strike towards goal. So close!
Yesterday I wrote at great length about how Foden is taking the worst run of shots we've seen from him in the last four years. Phil, did you read that? A gorgeous ball through Mainoo and the Manchester City man is in behind but without much space to work in. He doesn't need much though, quick feet manufacturing space from Ake and Van Dijk. He rolls the ball towards the net, through Verbruggen's legs, but somehow Dumfries is across to control and get rid just before it rolls into the bottom corner.
Verbruggen guesses right but he can't get a glove on it. England are all square!
England have responded really impressively to their set back and Kane has got two shots away, the latter coming when Bellingham drops deep and feed Saka. In due course his shot is deflected to sit up nicely for Kane, who volleys over. He is incensed by the lack of a foul as Dumfries connected with him after he got his shot away. It really doesn't look like a penalty and on the UK broadcast CBS Sports' own Christina Unkel is convinced it isn't.
Then, out of nowhere it seems, Bastian Dankert asks Felix Zwayer to take a look at the monitor. He couldn't, could he? He has given a penalty. Kane to take!
Guehi makes a hash of a clearance, putting pressure on Rice but still the sort you would expect him to deal with. Instead he's shrugged off the ball by Simons, who has no one closing him down. He needs no second invitation to give it a good hit, a thundering strike that Pickford cannot get close to.
And away we go. The Dutch knock the ball around their defense conservatively enough, giving us a chance to look at the shape of the English out of possession. It does look like it's going to be the same system as it was against Switzerland with Saka as a right wing back and Trippier on the left. On the ball, however, Southgate seems to have pushed Bellingham a little deeper to play alongside Mainoo. We shall see if that is just an early look.
The xx's Intro blares out (honestly, can we give that song a break? It's been 15 years now) as the players make their way to the pitch for the anthems. Kick off is just moments away, the deluge that hit the Westfalenstadion before kick off evidently having cleared. God Save the King is observed in immaculate fashion. In dispiritingly English tradition, a smattering boos ring out for Wilhelmus van Nassouwe.
Well that'll be a trip to the Olympiastadion -- recently renovated into a quite remarkable mix of the modern and its complicated past -- to face Spain, a match for which both teams will be underdogs. Certainly the Dutch or English will find it hard to slow down Lamine Yamal if he is in the mood he was last night.
Indeed they won't just be fighting to quell the Barcelona winger, who turns 17 before the final, but the sense that this is his tournament, one that will be the first chapter of what could be a glittering story.
Ronald Koeman, the man who ended Graham Taylor's stint as England manager in 1993, has been telling British broadcaster ITV how he intends to emerge victorious over the Three Lions tonight:
"We need space in front and Malen is a player who always goes deep. He's fast. We try on both sides to get one against one with the full backs of England. We know that in every nation there are critics. Maybe they didn't play at the level that people in England expected but first of all the result is good. They stayed in the semifinal. They will know that they can play better."
No great surprise in a Dutch side that brings in the sparky Malen for Bergwijn, the only change from the side that started the win against Turkey. More notable is an England team that also only has one different player, Marc Guehi returning from suspension to replace Ezri Konsa, who performed well without quite hitting the heights that the Crystal Palace man has managed.
More notable is the ongoing absence from the XI of Luke Shaw, who looked good off the bench against Switzerland but evidently isn't trusted to start at left back. Whether England's system a back three or four remains to be seen but surely it would look better on paper and on the pitch with a natural left footer to defend against Malen and the dangerous Denzel Dumfries. So many of the problems with this team have been exacerbated by playing a right footer on the left flank; they aren't going to be eased for a while tonight.
Netherlands XI: Verbruggen; Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake; Simons, Schouten, Reijnders; Malen, Depay, Gakpo
England XI: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi; Saka, Mainoo, Rice, Trippier; Foden, Bellingham, Kane
Netherlands surprisingly finished third in Group D, writes Jonathan Johnson, behind Austria in top spot and France in second but ahead of Poland, so it put the Dutch into an unexpected role of underdog here after a favorable run to the final four of Romania and then Turkiye. England topped Group C but only won one of three games to finish ahead of Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia before making hard work of it against Slovakia and then Switzerland to now face Oranje which is arguably their biggest test so far in terms of stature.
Not long to go now. The finishing line is in sight for two teams that haven't really hit top speed so far this tournament. Will the sheer occasion bring the best out of England and the Netherlands at the Westfalenstadion? Whoever you're supporting -- if anyone -- we can but hope. This could be a rough 90 minutes if it's anything like some of the football these two have served up in recent weeks.
