Italy-England is an unprecedented final, the English having played only one international competition final and none at the Euro. At Wembley this Sunday in front of their home crowd, the Three Lions will therefore try to win the second final in their history after that won in 1966, already at home, in the World Cup against West Germany. The Italians are very experienced at this stage of the competition: six World Cup finals including four victories and three Euro finals, for a single title, in 1968 against Yugoslavia. Since then, Squadra Azzura has failed twice, in 2000 against France (2-1), and in 2012 when Spain inflicted a scathing 4-0.
Already in 2012, the Nazionale had faced the English. It was in the quarterfinals, in Kiev, and Italy had won on penalties, including a sublime panenka by Andrea Pirlo, one of the most beautiful ever. Before that, the two selections had met only once in their history at the Euro, in a group match in 1980, in Turin, where the locals had won 2-1. Roberto Mancini’s men, over a series of 33 games without defeat, are therefore undefeated against England in the European Championship. The English have never beaten Squadra Azzura in a final phase of international competition. In all, in 27 games, the English have won eight times for ten losses and nine draws. The last time the Three Lions beat the Italians was in 2012, in Bern, in a friendly match just after the Polish-Ukrainian Euro (2-1). Their last confrontation in international competition dates back to 2014, during the World Cup in Brazil. The Italians had triumphed, 2-1, but the two selections, disappointing, had been eliminated from the pools in this group D.
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