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ITV had a major win in the battle for viewers during Euro 2024 – but more fans still chose the BBC for the final.The British broadcasting powerhouses both aired the Three Lions’ second successive European Championship final defeat on Sunday night.England’s Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain was broadcast on both the BBC and ITVCredit: GettyA whopping 24.2million fans tuned into the finalCredit: PAIan Wright and Gary Neville were part of ITV’s all-star team for Euro 2024Credit: GETTYA whopping 24.2 million viewers watched England’s heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Spain in Berlin across both channels.Just over 22 million people watched the agonising match from start to finish.Some 26 per cent of England fans chose ITV watch the match, which was aired on ITV1 and streamed on ITVX.That represented a seven per cent points increase for the broadcaster from the Euro 2020 final in the summer of 2021.READ MORE EURO 2024 NEWSThe figure saw ITV set a new record for their highest-ever viewing share for a major men’s football tournament final.Euro 2024 was a resounding success for the broadcaster, who had two of the three highest rating matches.They also had the biggest audience on a single channel, with a peak of 21.6 million tuning in for England’s last-gasp semi-win over the Netherlands on all their platforms.That was in keeping with their recent dominance of the single-channel audience, which they’ve had for the last six major men’s football tournaments.Most read in Euro 2024BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERSEngland ratings: Palmer the super sub but captain Kane struggles yet again in Spain heartbreakCOLE PALMER came off the bench to be England’s star man – but his heroics were unable to stop heartbreak against Spain, writes Tom Barclay.Mikel Oyarzabal struck a late dagger through the hearts of the Three Lions to seal a 2-1 Spanish victory.And that ensured that 58 years of hurt will go on.Here’s how SunSport’s Tom Barclay rated each England player in the crushing defeat:Jordan Pickford: 8Carefully controlled a blast of a backpass from John Stones on his line in the first half. Could do little to stop Williams’ opener but made two terrific stops to deny Yamal, only for Oyarzabal to poke home at the death.Kyle Walker: 6Had his hands full with Williams but managed the Spanish livewire pretty well but could not get near his powerful opener. John Stones: 8A colossus again as he played every single minute of this Euros, despite lack of Manchester City game-time. Superb block on early Williams shot, was often in the right place at the right time and at one point dribbled all the way up the pitch.Marc Guehi: 6Solid alongside Stones and overall it has been a brilliant first tournament for the Crystal Palace star. But Oyarzabal nicked in front of him for the winner.Bukayo Saka: 7Most consistent attacker for England across the tournament and had a good battle with pantomime villain Marc Cucurella here. It was his cross that Bellingham laid off for Palmer to work his magic.Declan Rice: 7Went past his boss Gareth Southgate’s cap haul by winning his 58th here and he is still only 25. Was in the thick of it in the midfield battle throughout. Kobbie Mainoo: 5Just 19 and starting a major final for England in the middle of midfield. Fewer bursts forward though than in recent games as his side struggled for possession and was subbed for Palmer as Southgate searched for a leveller. Luke Shaw: 7Looked so sharp for a player making his first start since Luton away on February 10, winning his battle against Lamine Yamal in the first half. But Yamal got the better of him after the break to tee up Williams’ opener.Phil Foden: 6Out of possession it was his job to man-mark Manchester City colleague Rodri, until the Spanish maestro went off injured at half-time. Had a half-chance just before the break but could not beat Unai Simon.Jude Bellingham: 7Shunted wide left when England did not have the ball – which was a lot of the time. Riskily flew into a few tackles, but it was his clever lay-off that teed up Palmer.Harry Kane: 4His lack of involvement was summed up by England fans calling for Ollie Watkins in the 57th minute. They got their wish on the hour.SUBS: Ollie Watkins: 6Semi-final hero was introduced far earlier here to get some legs in behind, though he did not have too much impact this time.Cole Palmer: 9What an impact after emerging with just twenty minutes to go. Yet another of Southgate’s subs paid off handsomely as Palmer curled a peach of an equaliser with 17 minutes remaining, sending most of the Olympiastadion potty.Ivan Toney: 6Thrown on right at the end but could not make an impact.Gareth Southgate: 7The game was a chess match for the first half and Southgate was never going to go early with his bold moves.His subs were excellent to be fair, with Palmer brilliantly getting his team back into it.Critics will say England did not play attacking enough but Spain are one hell of a side – and Southgate’s men pushed them all the way.Meanwhile, 19.3 million fans tuned into the coverage on BBC One.That equates to a 63 per cent audience share.But overall, the peak audience of 24.2 million is down from the 30 million that tuned into the Euro 2020 final as England lost on penalties to Italy.Gareth Southgate drops quit hint on live TV minutes after England’s heartbreaking Euro 2024 final lossSuccess is something Gareth Southgate may never experience as the Three Lions boss.The 53-year-old hinted that he could walk away from the job before a ball had even been kicked in Germany.And the former defender dropped a huge hint he could end his reign as England manager in the coming days by referring to his players as “they” in one of his post-match interviews.He said: “I think England are in a really good position in terms of the experiences they’ve got now. The age of the squad.”Most of this squad are going to be around not only for the World Cup but the next Euros as well.”There’s a lot to look forward to but this moment is not any consolation.”READ MORE SUN STORIESWhen further pressed on his future, Southgate added: “I don’t think now is a good time to make a decision like that.”I need to talk to the right people. It’s not for now.” More

ENGLAND supporters got more than they bargained for ahead of tonight’s crushing defeat.The 58 years of hurt will go on after the Three Lions were beaten 2-1 late on by Spain in the Euro 2024 final.England fans got a right eyeful as they partied ahead of the Euro 2024 finalCredit: InstagramOne supporter even came over to shake her handCredit: InstagramGareth Southgate suffered disappointment in his attempt to secure our first piece of silverware since the 1966 World Cup.Those lucky enough to be in Olympiastadion had been in full party mood all day.Excitement had been mounting back home as fans up and down the country got set for the action – but once it did then supporters were quick to spot a Southgate tactical tweak during the early stages of the game while ITV viewers were only noticing Laura Woods’ stunning outfit.During the exciting build-up, one girl was keen to show off her own two up top.READ MORE ON EURO 2024A clip has gone viral on Instagram of a female named Rain Monroe, who has nearly 15,000 followers, decked out in tiny denim shorts.But as a male crowd gathered in front of her, she proceeded to lift up the front of her top and give them all an eyeful.That was met by huge cheers as she waved to her new found army of admirers.But one spectator was so impressed with what he had seen that he even went up to shake Rain’s hand.Most read in Euro 2024Meanwhile, supporters back in the UK were all switching to ITV for all of the big match build-up.EURO 2024 FREE BETS AND OFFERSBBC and ITV are in a ratings war tonight – while their pundits are seated just yards apart at the Olympiastadion.Both British broadcasters have pulled out the big guns and are going all out in their quest to attract the most viewers.England fans belt out incredible rendition of God Save The King in Berlin’s Olympiastadio ahead of England vs SpainThis felt like our time… but keep Gareth’s culture and we can win it in 2026 instead, writes Jack WilshereIT will take a while for me and every England fan to get over this, writes Jack Wilshere.To come so close to winning that trophy, only to be beaten in a second Euros final in a row, is a huge disappointment.Especially when it really felt like this was our time.It seemed that everything was coming together for us to end the long wait for a major title.But Spain deserved it. They were the better team in the final and the best team of the tournament.We will all — supporters, players, coaches, the FA — have to move on and go again.Because English football is still in a good position.Gareth Southgate has taken us to two finals, a semi-final and a quarter-final in four tournaments. We have never produced a run like that before.The challenge now is to maintain this level of competitiveness and make England even better.Southgate and his staff have done a fantastic job in changing the whole environment and narrative around the national team.Whether Gareth carries on or not, the wider culture he has put in place must be preserved.This tournament was the biggest test of that culture the team had to go through.They overcame the problems and went all the way, only to fall at the final hurdle.But there is every reason to believe we can challenge at the World Cup in 2026 and beyond.We’ve got a really good group of players, many of them young, who can go on playing and performing for England for years.Jude Bellingham, Kobbie Mainoo, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer — to name just five — have plenty more tournaments in them.This tournament will also be an inspiration for the next generations of players. Unfortunately there isn’t the trophy lift to take that to a completely different level.But England have delivered moments in Germany that will be replayed forever.The Bellingham overhead kick and Ollie Watkins’ semi-final winner will be recreated in playgrounds and cages up and down the country.What I would like to see now is England continuing to develop, to become a team that can consistently dominate opponents and can give a real identity to English football.We now have players who are comfortable on the ball and technically very good.The biggest disappointment of the tournament was that we didn’t see that as often as we would have liked. That leaves us with a ‘what if?’ feeling.England must not lose that old-school mentality of finding a way to win even when you’re not playing well — that never-say-die spirit which got us through this Euros more than once.But the next step is to allow other qualities to shine through, to give the players that our system is creating the platform to show  everything they can do.The job for me and for other coaches is to keep producing players that are comfortable on the ball and understand how to perform under pressure at a high level.English football is in a good place but we need to keep going. Then we will finally get over the line.Real all of SunSport columnist Jack Wilshere’s Euro 2024 columns…Legendary England striker Gary Lineker was on presenting duties for the Beeb, as he was joined by ex-Three Lions defenders Micah Richards and Rio Ferdinand.And they also had former Spanish attacker Juan Mata alongside them after the Euro 2012 winner was added to the line-up late this week.Meanwhile, on the other channel, Mark Pougatch was on hosting duties from Berlin.They were able to call on the expertise of Manchester United legends Roy Keane and Gary Neville while ex-Arsenal and England ace Ian Wright.And it seems that their panel was the one most people said they were tuning in to pre-match.Although some said they were switching back for the game.One posted on X: “BBC for the game itself. Switch over to ITV for the pundits.”England ratings: Palmer the super sub but captain Kane struggles yet again in Spain heartbreakCOLE PALMER came off the bench to be England’s star man – but his heroics were unable to stop heartbreak against Spain, writes Tom Barclay.Mikel Oyarzabal struck a late dagger through the hearts of the Three Lions to seal a 2-1 Spanish victory.And that ensured that 58 years of hurt will go on.Here’s how SunSport’s Tom Barclay rated each England player in the crushing defeat:Jordan Pickford: 8Carefully controlled a blast of a backpass from John Stones on his line in the first half. Could do little to stop Williams’ opener but made two terrific stops to deny Yamal, only for Oyarzabal to poke home at the death.Kyle Walker: 6Had his hands full with Williams but managed the Spanish livewire pretty well but could not get near his powerful opener. John Stones: 8A colossus again as he played every single minute of this Euros, despite lack of Manchester City game-time. Superb block on early Williams shot, was often in the right place at the right time and at one point dribbled all the way up the pitch.Marc Guehi: 6Solid alongside Stones and overall it has been a brilliant first tournament for the Crystal Palace star. But Oyarzabal nicked in front of him for the winner.Bukayo Saka: 7Most consistent attacker for England across the tournament and had a good battle with pantomime villain Marc Cucurella here. It was his cross that Bellingham laid off for Palmer to work his magic.Declan Rice: 7Went past his boss Gareth Southgate’s cap haul by winning his 58th here and he is still only 25. Was in the thick of it in the midfield battle throughout. Kobbie Mainoo: 5Just 19 and starting a major final for England in the middle of midfield. Fewer bursts forward though than in recent games as his side struggled for possession and was subbed for Palmer as Southgate searched for a leveller. Luke Shaw: 7Looked so sharp for a player making his first start since Luton away on February 10, winning his battle against Lamine Yamal in the first half. But Yamal got the better of him after the break to tee up Williams’ opener.Phil Foden: 6Out of possession it was his job to man-mark Manchester City colleague Rodri, until the Spanish maestro went off injured at half-time. Had a half-chance just before the break but could not beat Unai Simon.Jude Bellingham: 7Shunted wide left when England did not have the ball – which was a lot of the time. Riskily flew into a few tackles, but it was his clever lay-off that teed up Palmer.Harry Kane: 4His lack of involvement was summed up by England fans calling for Ollie Watkins in the 57th minute. They got their wish on the hour.SUBS: Ollie Watkins: 6Semi-final hero was introduced far earlier here to get some legs in behind, though he did not have too much impact this time.Cole Palmer: 9What an impact after emerging with just twenty minutes to go. Yet another of Southgate’s subs paid off handsomely as Palmer curled a peach of an equaliser with 17 minutes remaining, sending most of the Olympiastadion potty.Ivan Toney: 6Thrown on right at the end but could not make an impact.Gareth Southgate: 7The game was a chess match for the first half and Southgate was never going to go early with his bold moves.His subs were excellent to be fair, with Palmer brilliantly getting his team back into it.Critics will say England did not play attacking enough but Spain are one hell of a side – and Southgate’s men pushed them all the way.Another wrote: “I prefer the pundits on ITV but prefer commentary from BBC.”A third was torn, saying: “I prefer the pundits on ITV but the coverage on BBC.“A real dilemma ahead. I’ve switched three times.”A fourth wrote: “When it comes to the football, I feel like ITV have the better pundits but the BBC have better commentary.”READ MORE SUN STORIESEarlier on ITV, presenter Laura Woods bonded with new Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer over their love for Arsenal.Over on the BBC, Gary Lineker called out Rio Ferdinand for “child cruelty” after hearing his plan to stop Lamine Yamal. More

FANS were all switching to ITV tonight for all of the big match build-up ahead of England’s heartbreaking defeat.The 58 years of hurt will go on after the Three Lions were beaten 2-1 late on by Spain in the Euro 2024 final.The BBC made a late change to their broadcast for the Euro 2024 finalCredit: BBCITV’s pundit panel seems to have been the favourite with fansCredit: ITVBBC and ITV were in a ratings war tonight – while their pundits are seated just yards apart at the Olympiastadion.Both British broadcasters pulled out the big guns and went all out in their quest to attract the most viewers.Legendary England striker Gary Lineker was on presenting duties for the Beeb, as he was joined by ex-Three Lions defenders Micah Richards and Rio Ferdinand.And they also had former Spanish attacker Juan Mata alongside them after the Euro 2012 winner was added to the line-up late this week.READ MORE ON EURO 2024Meanwhile, on the other channel, Mark Pougatch was on hosting duties from Berlin.They were able to call on the expertise of Manchester United legends Roy Keane and Gary Neville while ex-Arsenal and England ace Ian Wright.And it seems that their panel was the one most people said they were tuning in to pre-match.Although some will be switching back for the game.Most read in Euro 2024EURO 2024 FREE BETS AND OFFERSOne posted on X: “BBC for the game itself. Switch over to ITV for the pundits.”Another wrote: “I prefer the pundits on ITV but prefer commentary from BBC.”Incredible footage shows how close BBC and ITV studios are for Euro 2024 final between England and SpainA third was torn, saying: “I prefer the pundits on ITV but the coverage on BBC.“A real dilemma ahead. I’ve switched three times.”A fourth wrote: “When it comes to the football, I feel like ITV have the better pundits but the BBC have better commentary.”Another stated: “I much prefer the ITV pundits. Tempted to go the whole hog and watch the game on ITV.”While a sixth said: “ITV objectively has the better pundits, Wrighty, Neville and Keano.”BBC and ITV’s Euro 2024 line up in fullHere’s how each channel will line-up:BBC presenters:Gary Lineker, Alex Scott, Gabby Logan and Mark ChapmanITV presenters:Mark Pougatch and Laura Woods BBC pundits:Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Rio Ferdinand, Ellen White, Frank Lampard, Ashley Williams, Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart, Cesc Fabregas, Thomas Frank, David Moyes, Rachel Corsie and James McFaddenITV pundits:Ian Wright, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Karen Carney, Graeme Souness, Eni Aluko, Ange Postecoglou, Danny Rohl and Christina UnkelBBC commentators:Guy Mowbray, Robyn Cowen, Vicki Sparks, Steve Wilson, Steve Bower and Jonathan PearceITV commentators:Sam Matterface, Clive Tyldesley, Seb Hutchinson, Pien Meulensteen and Joe SpeightBBC co-commentators:Danny Murphy, Martin Keown, Jermaine Jenas and James McFaddenITV co-commentators:Lee Dixon, Ally McCoist and Andros TownsendWe revealed earlier how the Beeb had made a last-minute change to their coverage of the Euro 2024 final.The match is free to air and will be shown on both ITV and BBC.But the BBC made a late change to their coverage’s start time.READ MORE SUN STORIESThe programming was expected to start at 7pm but will now begin at 6.30pm.That brought it in line with the ITV start time, one and a half hours before the match kicks off at 8pm.THE TIME IS NOWENGLAND face their destiny against Spain TONIGHT – hoping to end 58 years of hurt in the Euro 2024 final.England vs Spain recordEngland have played Spain 27 times in total – here is a look at every result…May 1929, Spain 4-3 England – International Friendly (L)December 1931, England 7-1 Spain – International Friendly (W)July 1950, Spain 1-0 England – World Cup (L)May 1955, Spain 1-1 England – International Friendly (D)November 1955, England 4-1 Spain – International Friendly (W)May 1960, Spain 3-0 England – International Friendly (L)October 1960, England 4-2 Spain – International Friendly (W)December 1965, Spain 0-2 England – International Friendly (W)May 1967, England 2-0 Spain – International Friendly (W)April 1968, England 1-0 Spain – European Championship (W)May 1968, Spain 1-2 England – European Championship (W)March 1980, Spain 0-2 England – International Friendly (W)June 1980, England 2-1 Spain – European Championship (W)March 1981, England 1-2 Spain – International Friendly (L)July 1982, Spain 0-0 England – World Cup (D)February 1987, Spain 2-4 England – International Friendly (W)September 1992, Spain 1-0 England – International Friendly (L)June 1996, England 0(4)-(2)0 Spain – European Championship (W)February 2001, England 3-0 Spain – International Friendly (W)November 2004, Spain 1-0 England – International Friendly (L)February 2007, England 0-1 Spain – International Friendly (L)February 2009, Spain 2-0 England – International Friendly (L)November 2011, England 1-0 Spain – International Friendly (W)November 2015, Spain 2-0 England – International Friendly (L)November 2016, England 2-2 Spain – International Friendly (D)September 2018, England 1-2 Spain – Nations League (L)October 2018, Spain 2-3 England – Nations League (W)Overall, England have won 14, drawn three and lost 10 matches against Spain. 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