Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over France put Spain in the European Championship final, and 16-year-old Lamine Yamal became the youngest player to score in the history of a major competition.
Prior to Yamal’s brilliant performance in the twenty-first minute, France took an early lead when Randal Kolo Muani headed in a cross from Kylian Mbappé, who did not wear a mask. Four minutes later, Dani Olmo scored what would turn out to be the winning goal.
Spain will face either England or the Netherlands in the European Championship final on Sunday in Berlin as it looks to win a record-tying fourth title.
On Wednesday, they take on each other in Dortmund.
Munich was taken aback when Mbappé onto the pitch without the mask he had been sporting since suffering a broken nose during France’s opening Euro 2024 group stage match.
Mbappé had been complaining that the mask was hindering him, and it seemed that taking it off had an instant impact because in the ninth minute, he set up the game’s first goal with a luring cross to the back post that Randal Kolo Muani headed in.
That was the first goal France had scored at the 2024 European Championship that wasn’t an own goal or a penalty. Luckily for Les Bleus, they had also shown remarkable play at the back, giving up just one goal—a penalty that Poland’s Robert Lewandowski had retaken during the group stage.
But there was no stopping Yamal’s incredible equaliser in the 21st minute, when he curled the ball past Mike Maignan and in off the left post from 25 yards, making history as the youngest player to score at a men’s European Championship, or World Cup.
And four minutes later, Jules Koundé, the France defender, redirected Olmo’s goalbound shot into his own net, entirely turning the tide of the match in favour of Spain. Olmo was later given the credit for what UEFA had initially declared to have been an own goal.
In the second half, France had the better of the possession but failed to convert it.
Late in the game, Théo Hernández had a great chance that he should have taken advantage of, and with four minutes left, Mbappé did the same.
In the interval, another strong shot from Yamal went just over the crossbar, giving Spain even more of a lead.