Gareth Southgate says England players 'have done the country proud' but makes major admission after Euro 2024 final defeat

Gareth Southgate believes his England team "have done the country proud" after they lost a second consecutive European Championship final to Spain.

Mikel Oyarzabal's 85th-minute winner condemned England to more heartbreak in Berlin, three years after their agonising defeat on penalties to Italy at Wembley.

The England manager, who afterwards refused to be drawn on his future, says his side's form at the last two Euros has been "incredible" but he added that none of their progress "matters" after they squandered another opportunity to win a first major men's trophy since 1966.

"The team have done the country proud, they've reached a first final away from England, a second final in two tournaments is incredible really," Southgate said. "They've played 14 matches in the last two European Championships and we've lost in the last five minutes of the 14th game, we weren't beaten other than on penalties in that period, it's an incredible run.

"But at the moment I have to say none of that matters because we had an opportunity to win and we haven't been able to take it."

After a cagey first half, Spain winger Nico Williams broke the deadlock two minutes after the restart but England came from behind for the fourth consecutive knockout game, with substitute Cole Palmer brilliantly firing them level.

Southgate felt England's age-old possession problem was a factor against Spain's pass-masters and he says his tired players ran out of steam.

"To lose a final is incredibly tough," Southgate said. "Firstly congratulations to Spain, they were the best team in the tournament and the best team tonight.

"Our players have been incredible, they've given everybody some incredible nights, they couldn't have given any more in terms of their effort, desire and character.

"We fell short, we couldn't keep the ball well enough. We actually defended well in the first half in particularly, limited their possibilities. But we couldn't play through the counter-press well enough and we didn't use the ball well until we were a goal down.

"I think the physical toll of the issues we came into the tournament with, the extra-time and tonight having as little of the ball as we did, that took a big toll.

"That was part of the reason why at the end the legs started to go and you start to make mistakes. The players have pushed it to the 85th minute of the final game, they've been incredible."