AND so, the wait goes on. It is now 58 years since England won their one and only major trophy, and by the time the next World Cup takes place in North America, the wait will have stretched to six decades. Gareth Southgate has transformed so much of English football during his managerial tenure, but winning silverware is a hurdle that remains impossible to overcome.

For the second European Championships in a row, England were found wanting in the final. Three years ago, at Wembley, Italy needed penalties to beat Southgate’s side. Last night, in Berlin’s Olympiastadion, Spain got the job in normal time thanks to substitute Mikel Oyarzabal;s 86th-minute strike.

England, outplayed for long spells, spent most of the second half trailing after Nico Williams opened the scoring two minutes after the break, but levelled when Cole Palmer fired home a brilliant low finish within three minutes of leaving the bench.

Once again, England were reliant on a super-sub. As a result, it is hard not to wonder what might have happened had Southgate given his replacements more of a chance from the start of games. Watkins, whose semi-final winner took England to Berlin, and Palmer, whose superb finish in the final was in keeping with his domestic performances for Chelsea, surely deserved more minutes than they were afforded.

Instead, Southgate kept faith with Harry Kane, who underperformed again last night, and Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham, who shone sporadically without ever really threatening to take the tournament by storm.

On the biggest stage last night, Foden and Bellingham were outshone by Spain’s own young stars. Lamine Yamal, a day after his 17th birthday, claimed an assist and sparkled once again. Williams, whose low finish opened the scoring, was a deserved Man of the Match.

Oyarzabal, a 27-year-old Real Sociedad forward, was an unlikely match winner, but few could argue that Spain were the best team in the tournament. With seven wins out of seven, they are thoroughly worthy champions.

England’s tournament began in underwhelming fashion with the group matches against Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia, but delivered a string of memorable moments once the knockout stages arrived. Bellingham’s overhead kick against Slovakia, the five perfect penalties in the win over Switzerland, Watkins’ last-minute winner against the Netherlands. For years to come, all three will feature in the highlights reel of England’s best-ever moments at a major tournament. Sadly, there was not to be another match winner last night.

In many ways, the game followed the pattern that might have been predicted prior to kick-off. Spain, dominating possession for long spells, were the better team. England shackled them reasonably well initially, but when Southgate’s side had to push forward after falling behind, they were repeatedly vulnerable on the counter-attack. Had it not been for three excellent second-half saves from Jordan Pickford, the margin of England’s defeat could have been even wider.

John Stones, who was arguably England’s most consistent player all tournament, produced a superb sliding challenge to prevent Nico Williams from getting an early shot away, while Marc Guehi, also made a crucial block midway through the first half to ensure Yamal’s shot from the right of the area did not head goalwards.

On the whole, though, England will have been pleased with the way in which they kept the Spanish attack at arm’s length in the first half, with Southgate opting for a flat back four and a 4-2-3-1 formation that saw Bellingham stationed more towards the left while Foden played centrally as the ‘number ten’.

Luke Shaw and Kyle Walker started strongly, shackling Yamal and Williams in one-on-one situations while regularly shuffling their opponents infield to a more congested central area. As a result, a Spanish side that had looked so incisive against Georgia, Germany and France in their previous knockout matches struggled to create much in the first half.

England’s own attacking was fairly limited in scope, although Bukayo Saka broke dangerously down the right shortly before the midway point of the first half. The Arsenal winger pulled the ball back to Declan Rice, but his club mate’s shot from just outside the area was blocked by Rodri.

That was really that from England before the break though, with the lack of attacking creativity that was an issue for most of the tournament once again apparent. Neither Foden nor Bellingham were able to get on the ball much, while most of Rice and Kobbie Mainoo’s attention was focused on the defensive side of the game. Then, on the limited occasions when they did have possession, they were unable to play through the Spanish press.

Their first effort on target came in first-half stoppage time, and had its origins in a set-piece. Rice floated a deep free-kick into the area, but while Foden peeled off intelligently at the back post, his shot from an acute angle was straight at Unai Simon, who was able to make a routine save.

Just prior to that, Rodri had hurt himself while stretching to block the ball in the box, and while the Manchester City midfielder continued to the break, he was unable to reappear for the second half. His absence felt potentially decisive, but before there was a chance for it to have an impact, Spain claimed the lead with their first attack after the break.

Yamal was the architect of the opener, beating Shaw to Dani Carvajal’s incisive through ball and darting infield from the right-hand side. As the teenager shaped to feed the ball inside, so Walker was attracted towards Alvaro Morata, leaving Williams unmarked at the back post. Yamal picked him out, and Williams drilled a clinical finish past Pickford’s left hand and into the bottom corner.

England were rocking, and they almost conceded a second goal two minutes later as Spain’s attackers once again combined to impressive effect. Williams was involved again, teeing up Dani Olmo in the area, but while Olmo turned neatly past his marker, he dragged a low shot wide of the post.

Spain’s improvement in the early stages of the second half was pronounced, with Williams and Yamal both finding pockets of space that had been denied them before the break. Yamal released Morata into the area shortly before the hour mark, but while the striker slipped a low shot past Pickford, a backtracking Stones was able to clear.

The England fans who were making up the majority of the crowd were calling for Watkins by this point, with Kane once again looking laboured and one-paced, and Southgate turned to his semi-final super-sub in the 61st minute in an attempt to change the course of the game.

Three minutes later, and England were going close, although Watkins was not involved. Saka played the ball infield from the flank, but while Bellingham showed superb control to spin away from three opponents, he dragged his 20-yard shot wide of the post.

With the game opening up, Pickford turned Yamal’s shot around the upright after a slick Spanish counter-attack ended with the youngster turning inside Shaw, before Fabian Ruiz fired over after a cross was cleared into his path.

England needed something to change the course of their destiny, and it arrived when Southgate brought on Palmer with 20 minutes remaining. Within three minutes of being on the field, England’s latest game changer had levelled things.

Saka’s break down the right was the start of things, with the Arsenal winger tearing off down the touchline before playing a pass infield. Bellingham laid the ball off to Palmer, and with supreme confidence, the Chelsea youngster curled a brilliant first-time finish into the bottom corner from just outside the box.

Pickford, who was becoming an increasingly influential presence, made another fine save from Yamal to ensure England’s equaliser was not wasted, but he was powerless to prevent Spain’s winner with four minutes left.

Oyarzabal spread the ball wide to Marc Cucurella, and having continued his run into the box, he stole ahead of Guehi to turn home the full-back’s cross.