When England plays a strong Spanish team in the Euro 2024 final today, they want to snap their 58-year winless streak in men's major international competitions.
The game, which begins at midnight at Berlin's Olympiastadion, will conclude a month of football in Germany during which Spain, led by the young phenom Lamine Yamal, has been by far the most outstanding team.
With six wins along the way to the final, they have already dispatched a number of the continent's heavyweights in their quest to become European champions for a record-tying fourth time, following 1964, 2008, and 2012.
While England has frequently faltered against weaker opponents, they turned in their greatest performance to date in the semi-finals against the Netherlands, winning 2-1 thanks to a goal from Ollie Watkins, who came off the bench.
They are currently in their second straight European Championship final, hoping to erase the memory of their three-year-ago, penalty-shootout defeat to Italy at Wembley in the championship game.
Should Gareth Southgate's squad succeed in doing so, England would have won a championship for the first time since winning the World Cup in 1966 at home.
"It's not a belief in fairy tales, but it is a belief in dreams," Southgate declared on Saturday at his pre-game news conference.
Following their devastating experience at Euro 2020, England endured a string of near-misses in subsequent years. They were semi-finalists in the 2018 World Cup and lost to France in the last eight of the 2022 World Cup.
One of the best teams going into the competition, captained by Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, only managed to win once, against Serbia, and score just two goals to top their group.
Then, in a match they finally won in extra time against Slovakia, they needed Bellingham to save them at the last minute. Later, they defeated Switzerland on penalties and eliminated the Dutch.
As the teams get ready to compete in a major event for the first time since Euro 96, when Southgate's England squad won on penalties in the quarterfinals, Spain will easily be their toughest test to date.
Southgate said, "Fate, the run we've had, the late goals, the penalties, that doesn't equate to it being our moment."
"We have to exert the necessary effort and perform at the required level."
Spain defeated Croatia, the defending European champions, and Italy, the 2022 World Cup semifinalists, in all of their group stage victories without giving up a goal.
They defeated the host Germany in extra time during the quarterfinals in Stuttgart, and then they overcame Kylian Mbappe's France in the semifinals thanks to a magnificent goal from Yamal.
Both French-born central defender Robin Le Normand and right-back Dani Carvajal, who missed the semifinal due to suspension, are returning for Spain.
Luke Shaw might start at left-back for England for the first time since February if Kieran Trippier is benched. That is the only possible alteration.
Watkins will start on the bench for Kane, who will spearhead the assault once more after his crucial role in winning the match against the Netherlands.
Despite the fact that both finalists were only officially given 10,000 tickets for the match, reports from UK media outlets have indicated that England supporters may make up as much as half of the attendance at the 71,000-seat Olympiastadion.
The 2006 World Cup final, in which Italy defeated France on penalties, was held in Hertha Berlin's home.
