Gareth Southgate’s England side began their return journey on Monday morning after losing 2-1 to Spain in the final of Euro 2024.
Spanish substitute Mikel Oyarzabal broke the hearts of the English in Berlin in the 86th minute after Cole Palmer cancelled out Nico Williams’ opening goal with a superb strike from outside the penalty area.
Southgate waved goodbye to the crowd as his Three Lions team boarded the team bus to begin the journey home to England, where the nation is still waiting for its first major trophy since winning the World Cup in 1966.
In footage shared on social media, Sky NewsMarc Guehi, Conor Gallagher and Harry Kane were the first to leave the hotel to board the bus at 09:34 UK time, closely followed by Jarrod Bowen and Lewis Dunk.
While losing a final with England is new to players like Guehi and Bowen, several Three Lions stars have experienced this disappointing home journey before, having lost to Italy on penalties at Wembley in the previous European Championship final three years ago.
Gareth Southgate’s England team began the home journey after losing the Euro 2024 final
Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Kane were all in the squad when England suffered a last-minute failure at Euro 2020.
Despite lacking the necessary agility and attacking prowess on their road to the Euro 2024 final on Sunday, England showed great character to come from behind in all three knockout matches against Slovakia, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
The Three Lions were on the brink of a catastrophic elimination to Slovakia in the last 16 but a superb bicycle kick from Bellingham deep into injury time saved the equaliser and led England to a 2-1 victory in extra time thanks to a header from captain Kane.
Saka scored a stunning equaliser after Switzerland had taken the lead in the quarter-finals. The Three Lions had to go into extra time but eventually won on penalties.
And in the last four, England had to make up a deficit after Xavi Simons scored for the Netherlands in the seventh minute. Kane equalised from the penalty spot, with Ollie Watkins scoring the winning goal in the closing stages.
However, a fourth comeback victory proved one too many for Southgate’s side as England failed to force extra time after Palmer’s 73rd-minute equaliser.